30/10/2026
"It's not perfect, but it's safe, secure and it's my space"
Beatrix* was 58 when a car accident cost her job. What followed was a run of short-term tenancies and no clear sense of where she'd end up. It's a familiar story to us: women who have worked and paid rent their whole lives, suddenly without anywhere settled to land.
She had read about Homes for Older Women in the Gazette in 2024, and a friend in the mountains who knew the program encouraged her to get in touch. She sent us an Expression of Interest that December.
Beatrix stayed with her friend while the HOW Blue Mountains team worked through the options with her. Within a few months, and alongside Anglicare, she was signing a lease on a long-term tenancy in Katoomba.
"My first impression was that it was VERY small, but it was on the first floor so that felt safe, and it had a great view of Leura and the trees. That sold me."
The first months weren't easy, and there were times Beatrix wondered whether she'd stay. As more women moved into the building, it started to feel like somewhere she could settle.
Two years on, it's still the trees she talks about. "It makes my space feel bigger".
And the local community: "Everybody talks to everybody else like they know you already"
Is this your forever home? "Katoomba, yes. I feel settled and connected to my community"
*not her real name
