Alana Reynolds and her child have been forced to move six hours away from her partner and back in with her parents as a result of housing unavailability.
The 47-year-old describes her situation as an "absolute nightmare" that has severely impacted her mental wellbeing, leaving her feeling depressed and anxious "all the time".
Ms Reynolds could not find a rental within her budget of $250 to $300 a week.
"I've missed his [her partner's] birthday, I can't be near him for Christmas or Easter," she said.
"All I need from him at a time like this is just a hug, but we can't even get that because there are 600 kilometres between us.
"It's impossible to live like this. It's just too hard."
This situation has deeply affected Ms Reynolds' social life which she said used to ground her.
"I don't have a social life here at all. I don't know anybody here and moving in with my parents, even if I did have a bit of a social life, I wouldn't be inviting anybody into my parents' home because it's not my home," she said.
With the increasing cost of living pressures, housing affordability remains a problem for many Victorians.
At the 2021 Census, over 30,000 Victorians were without a home, a 24 per cent increase from five years ago.
Homelessness and mental health
Homelessness may trigger mental health issues, according to a 2018 report by Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.
"Persons with lived experience of mental ill health are more vulnerable to common risk factors for homelessness such as domestic and family violence, alcohol and other drug addiction, and unemployment," the report said.
Mildura man Daniel Price has experienced this firsthand.
As he looks for a place to live, he has resorted to sleeping at the back of a church with "a pillow and blanket outdoors, on the verandah area".
"I've been like this for over two months," he said.
"The housing market is so hard and it's hard to get a place these days in Victoria.
"It sucks I've got to live off the streets. I'm lost and upset and homeless."
Council to Homeless Persons, a Victorian advocacy body aiming to end homelessness, has expressed concerns over the rate at which homelessness has risen in Victoria.
Its 2022 report said 39 per 10,000 people were affected by homelessness in Mildura, meaning there are 264 people without a home in the city.
The council states Dandenong had the highest rate with 126.1 per 10,000, based on data from 2016, followed by Melbourne with 110.1 per 10,000, and Richmond at 106.9 per 10,000.
Yan Yean, Bellarine, and Eltham ranked lowest with 10.1, 11.4 and 11.8 in 10,000 people affected by homelessness.
Council to Homeless Persons' CEO Deborah di Natale said her organisation regularly dealt with people experiencing serious mental anguish when their housing was threatened.
"The stress and anxiety of finding a home is always difficult, but it is compounded by surging rents and fierce competition for existing housing," she said.
She said there was no easy fix to the problem which must be "tackled from multiple angles".
"Expanding social housing is also crucial so that we give people on low and modest incomes genuine housing stability."
