Rebecca Apthorpe with Zarli, 3, and Bailey, 7, hopes for more public housing.
Maitland mother-of-four Rebecca Apthorpe desperately needs public housing.
She has been on the waiting list for three years has been told that if she wants a house in Maitland, the wait is about 10 years.
If she chooses Kurri Kurri she will wait five years.
But Ms Apthorpe cannot afford to wait.
Her rented home is in disrepair and the owner plans to sell it in the coming months, which would leave her and her children without a home.
The average Maitland rent of $350 a week is beyond her means and if she is forced to take emergency accommodation in motels through Housing NSW or at a refuge she would lose custody of her children.
“It gets to the point when you have to beg and borrow to pay the bills,” Ms Apthorpe said.
“If I could get a house with a backyard I’d grow a vegetable garden and cut my grocery bill in half.”
Ms Apthorpe said supporting four children on a single income was tough.
“We struggle from week to week because everything is so expensive,” she said.
“The government should ... build more public housing in Maitland because a lot of people are doing it tough and need this help.”
