The Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing said it was doing all it could to help, but due to demand, there were no suitable properties available in the area.
The single mother-of-four is already without a permanent address, and for much of the past two years has been living in caravan parks.
Recently, she has been living at a friend’s unit, sharing a single room with her children.
“I have been in a temporary unit for the past month or so, but the owner is returning, so I can’t stay any longer,” she said.
Ms Chisholm previously lived in a private rental in Queensland, but had to move back to Moira Shire. She has been trapped in a cycle of homelessness ever since.
She said she had been told repeatedly by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing that there were no properties available.
“I have emailed, called and left multiple messages, and they said there are no properties available,” she said.
“Yet I have a list of nine properties that are empty, with one about to be allocated.
“I’ve actually noticed people moving from properties, leaving them vacant.”
A department spokesperson said it was doing everything possible to house Ms Chisholm and her kids.
However, a solution has yet to be found.
She said she was desperately ringing local caravan parks in an attempt to find somewhere to live.
To make matters more challenging, she said two of her children were living with disabilities.
“I have one child with ADHD and autism, and another on the waiting list for diagnosis for ADHD,” she said.
“My kids are on a lot of therapy waiting lists as they are NDIS-dependant, and my housing really needs to be local because otherwise my children’s treatment will suffer.
“If I don’t get any housing, my only option will be to move 10 hours away to couch-surf and move from property to property again.”
On top of all of that, Ms Chisholm is pregnant with her fifth child, due in four months.
She said her message to the department was to give her and her kids a fighting chance and house them as soon as possible.
“Just prioritise people who are actually homeless over people who already have property,” she said.
A department spokesperson said its staff were dealing with an uptake in demand.
“We are housing as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, with more than 7000 households moving into social housing (in the) last financial year — an increase of 29 per cent from the previous year,” the spokesperson said.
“We have been working hard to find a long-term housing option for the family of Ms Chisholm; however, there are currently no social housing properties that meet the family’s needs in their preferred areas.”
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