Blanche is a lot of things: a mother of eight and a grandmother of 10. A viral TikToker. A survivor of family and domestic violence. A former drug user, clean for nearly two years. And she is, for the moment, housed.
To the 49-year-old, the two-bedroom community housing she has in Melbourne’s west feels palatial. She previously spent seven months living in a hotel room with her youngest son, then aged nine. Before that, they were wrapped in blankets on the street. They spent four years bouncing around.