This is the story of a comparatively young woman who, owing to nervous instability and ill-health, was incapable of fending for herself. This woman, the 41-year-old pensioner widow of an ex-serviceman, came to Carry On seeking help in the payment of arrears of rent. Our member, who made the customary home visit, found that this poor woman was to be evicted as much because her state of health precluded her from looking after herself without aid from fellow tenants as for the arrears of rent. To make matters worse the poor woman was too ill to supplement her meagre pension by working. Our contact found that the client’s mother in Tasmania had written offering her a home but that she was without funds for the fare. The contact then suggested that a plane fare to Hobart would be of greater value to the client than payment of the arrears of rent.
The client was called in to Carry On for interview and arrangements were made for her flight to Hobart. Another Carry On member collected this lady from her lodgings on the day of her flight and drove her to the airways office where all details for her baggage etc. were attended to. A telegram was sent to the woman’s mother and arrangements made for her to be met at the end of the journey. Thus was an ailing widow whose physical condition condemned her to an unemployable and dismal life of loneliness in Victoria sent to the comfort of a home with sympathetic kinsfolk. This was a case where understanding was more important than money: a type of case in which the only known social agency to cope was ours – Carry On. Our success has been crowned by receipt of a heartfelt letter of thanks from a client relieved now of nervous tensions and happy in her own family circle.