Nearly a year to the day after Amanda Woodford suffered a stroke, she and her two children are preparing to be homeless.
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The after effects of her medical episode in March 2023 impacted her to the point where she had to give up working full time and become a carer to her now 18-year-old son who has both autism and ADHD.
Money "started getting really tight" while they were stuck on the waiting list for government benefits, but once payments started coming in, life got a little easier.
Then in November, the owners of her North Orange rental decided to sell and Ms Woodford was given until Thursday, March 12, to vacate the home. They have been looking for another place to live ever since.
"From there, it's gone downhill. We've been continuously applying for houses," Ms Woodford said.
"I've probably applied for at least 40 homes and quite often I don't even get a message saying I've been unsuccessful. You get nothing."
In Orange, from 2014-15 through to 2022-23, the amount of people battling homelessness more than doubled, from 489 people seeking assistance to 991.
The housing crisis in the city has been well documented and Ms Woodford isn't under any illusions that she is the only one struggling.
"The fact you see so many posts on Facebook from people who have either just moved here from Sydney or are about to move asking if there's somewhere to rent ... locals don't have a house," she added.
On top of the high demand and low supply of rentals, Ms Woodford said there are two factors impacting their situation.
The first is the fact that between herself and her eldest son, two of the three members of their household are reliant on benefit payments. The third is still in school.
The other issue is the family also includes three cats and a pet rabbit.
"The animals are a support to my eldest son, but that's what's going against us with getting a rental," she added.
The family have moved their furniture and other personal belongings into a storage shed and are on waiting lists for social housing.
But for Ms Woodford, the "stress of the unknown" given they will soon be without a roof over their head is the hardest part.
"I've gone from quite well off to homeless," she said.
"People don't understand that it just takes one glitch in your life."