Warning: This story contains graphic content.
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story → contain → content
When Rikki James’ ex-partner smashed her head into a concrete floor, not even her life-threatening brain aneurysm and surviving brain surgery could stop the barrage of abuse and gaslighting that came afterwards.
uncertain
that → smash → abuse
Chants of “you’re useless, you’re stupid, you’ve got a brain injury, you need me”, while painful, left a searing impression on James and solidified her resolve to leave.
In 2012, she fled Cairns for NSW’s South Coast and hasn’t shed a single tear or looked back once.
“I thought, well, stuff you.
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I → ’re → you
I don’t need you.
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I → need → you
I don’t want you.
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I → want → you
I just disappeared, I changed my name, I just vanished.
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I → disappear → name
And [he said] the usual thing, that ‘you’ll never find anyone like me’.
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you → say → me
Well, that’s the idea, mate!”
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that → ’ → ?
James, who agreed to this masthead publishing her new name, was homeless for a while and lived out of her car with her dog, before moving in and out of different social housing blocks over the years.
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masthead → agree → years
After a three-year wait, the 60-year-old moved into her forever home in December.
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old → move → December
Now, she is surrounded by neighbours who feel more like family than acquaintances, and Kobe, a seven-month-old munchkin kitten she calls her everything.
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she → surround → her
While it has taken more than a decade for James to get where she is now, she feels lucky because thousands of women and children fleeing domestic violence may wait even longer for a home, or never even receive the keys.
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thousands → take → keys
Statewide data shows the median time it took to house people who made general applications for social housing was 15.2 months, and this period is shorter for priority fast-track applications, at 4.6 months.
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period → show → months
But the government’s guide says 90 per cent of those on the waitlist for a one-bedroom home in inner-city Sydney will need to wait two to five years to be housed.
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cent → say → Sydney
This number stretches to five to 10 years in the inner west, the eastern suburbs, the northern beaches, Blacktown, Penrith, and Bankstown.
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number → stretch → Blacktown
Some areas face an even longer wait of more than 10 years: The northern suburbs, Sutherland, St George and Liverpool.
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areas → face → years
Domestic violence rates continue to rise even as governments increase funding for prevention services and introduce harsher criminal penalties.
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governments → continue → penalties
The state government has built 5175 social, affordable, and key worker homes since coming into office in March 2023.
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government → build → March
Their overarching goal is to deliver 8400 public homes, with half of these dedicated to women and children fleeing domestic violence.
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half → deliver → violence
Housing Minister Rose Jackson said: “For too long, public housing was allowed to deteriorate while demand continued to grow.
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demand → say → ?
We’re not just building new homes; we’re upgrading thousands of existing properties and investing in the people and communities who depend on them.”
Homes NSW has promised to build 1000 homes that are in the planning pipeline, and another 1000 are under construction.
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1000 → build → construction
Jackson said the government had made “significant progress”, but acknowledged there was more work to address the state’s housing shortage.
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government → say → shortage
“I want everyone who is currently on the waitlist to know that we have literally thousands more homes in the pipeline,” Jackson said.
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Jackson → want → pipeline
For James, moving to a bigger town on the South Coast with better hospitals was crucial to support the regular brain scans and MRIs she needed.
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she → move → scans
She was “lucky” to have been in secure housing while she was on the waitlist for three years, as she knew this wasn’t the case for countless others.
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this → know → others
“They’ve come from other housing blocks with graffiti and junkies everywhere, so they were too scared to come out of the unit,” James said.
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James → come → unit
“Unless you’ve actually gone through it, you’ve got no idea how hard it is.”
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it → go → idea
Despite everything, James remains upbeat.
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James → remain → everything
In her words, “if you’re so far down, you can only go up”.
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you → ’re → words
One song that got her through some of her most difficult days was Helen Reddy’s 1972 hit I Am Woman.
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I → get → days
“I am woman, hear me roar,” she chants to herself like a mantra.
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she → hear → mantra
She maintains a good-natured outlook even after her doctor told James she was diagnosed with blood cancer and osteoporosis, and instead beckons to fate: “Just throw something else at me, will you?”
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you → maintain → me
“What am I going to do?
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I → go → What
Can’t stamp your feet, your bones might break,” she jested.
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she → stamp → feet
“That’s my attitude.
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That → ’ → ?
I joke, I find a lot of good things in humour.
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I → joke → humour
I’m not an evil, cranky person.
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I → ’m → ?
I laugh, and I laugh at myself.
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I → laugh → myself
“All through all this crap in life, it just makes me think, ‘What’s next?
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What → make → life
No, actually I don’t even want to know what’s next.
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what → want → ?
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
