Homeless family living in car begs for help
A homeless single mother forced to sleep in her car with her three young children has made a tearful plea for help.
Mucevher Toprak, 32, has spent years on the public housing waiting list, and is now begging the Victorian Government to step in and put a roof over their heads.
The Toprak family is living on Centrelink payments, sometimes at friends, in cheap hotels and lately in their Holden.
She left the family home two years ago, and a Geelong refuge last November.
"I had to get out of the refuge because my oldest son stopped eating," she told 7News reporter Brendan Donohoe. "He didn't want to be there."
As a single mum with three primary school-aged children, 11, ten and seven, Ms Toprak should be a priority case for public housing, but she has been on the waiting list since 2012.
Shadow Minster for Housing Richard Wynne said: "The woman is the tragic human face of the housing crisis in Victoria under the Napthine Government."
The waiting list has dropped recently, but there are still around 34,000 Victorians in need.
"I have to keep up with the kids and give them hope that we will eventually settle down," Ms Toprak said.
The family rejected a Broadmeadows house last year saying it was too close to drug dealers and users.
Until another house can be found, the family car will remain their home.
