 ONE woman’s life began to crumble around her and she felt she lost everything. She had fallen into the clutches of the Melbourne streets with little hope of escaping. Nat Cruz was embarrassed to be homeless, but she didn’t realise just how dire her circumstance was until she was forced to dig through her bag for an old sock to use as a sanitary pad. Ms Cruz grew up with a roof over her head. Never in her worst nightmare did she think she would be struggling to find food or even basic hygiene products. “I wouldn’t know whether to buy food or pads and tampons,” she said. “I would sometimes use whatever I had like old socks or rolled up toilet paper.” “A lot of people don’t realise this is what women who are homeless face.” She found herself homeless after her partner, who had complex mental health issues, slipped through the cracks — she fell with him. They ended up living on the streets for a year before they managed to escape the bite of cold cement. “It was extremely hard — all you’re doing is trying to survive,” she said. “You’re not thinking about the future, you’re thinking day-to-day about where you are going to sleep and where you are going to get food. “You try to look for any type of light at the end of the tunnel and you pray and hope there is something out there to help you.”  Ms Cruz and her partner were each other’s refuge as they often huddled in Melbourne CBD feeling invisible. Very few people offered them warmth and kindness and many refused to look up. Mr Cruz said people stereotyped homeless people as being addicted to drugs or alcohol but she did not believe that to be true. During her stint on the streets, she realised most were battling mental health issues just like her partner. Being homeless completely changed Ms Cruz and how she saw the world. Once she was finally stable in public housing, she co-founded the Melbourne Period Project with Donna Stolzenberg and is now delivering sanitary products to homeless women. Ms Cruz also provides the hygiene products to those who are transgender, like her partner. When living on the street, she noticed he too started to get his period. “He was not able to get testosterone shots and his period came back,” she said. “He was embarrassed to get sanitary products as well because he was a guy.” The Melbourne Period Project collects almost 2000 sanitary products to give people every month but Ms Cruz is hoping to reach 10,000. Her initiative has now been launched in Sydney and will take off in Brisbane before Christmas. Now when Ms Cruz sees someone on the street she takes her time to notice them and see what they need. “I definitely don’t ignore them — they want to be seen, heard and helped,” she said. “I want people to know everybody has a story and everybody has feelings and everybody is a human being. “Don’t look at people and judge, have compassion and empathy and reach a hand out if somebody is in need.” For information about the Melbourne Period Project visit www. Originally published as Shocking reality for homeless women |
|
|
