Sheryl Delphin has three children and has been homeless for two years

The Wodonga mum and her three children are no strangers to the grim reality of homelesness.

They know all too well what it's like to sleep in their car down by the river when they had nowhere else to go.

"I had to get them ready for school, which was hard because I couldn't wash them," Sheryl says.

"It was uncomfortable, me and my eldest boy were upfront sharing a blanket and the kids were getting sick because they were waking up really cold."

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Family violence has left Sheryl and her young children without a secure home for more than two years.

In 2018 they were forced out of their home by her former partner, which saw them flee to Queensland to feel safe.

But the lack of a support network to cushion their fall saw Sheryl eventually move back to Wodonga to be closer to family.

"I stay with my sister and she's got four kids, so it's nine of us all up," she says.

"I've left there twice since being there and obviously made my way back."

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare states that 42 per cent of homeless people are there as a result of domestic violence.

It is the leading cause of homelessness for women and children.

Unfortunately the situation at her sister's home has become unsustainable and Sheryl now is in search of another place to live.

"It's getting really intense, with nine people in the house we're clashing," Sheryl says.

"The kids are clashing as well, so it doesn't make it easy for us.

"At my sister's place there were four of us sleeping on a double bed."

Tragically, Sheryl's story is not unique as the plight of thousands of homeless people was brought into the spotlight during National Homelessness Week recently.

What makes their story and the stories of too many across the country even more tragic is that it's nothing new and yet nothing has changed.

Last week Sheryl and her children were staying in emergency housing at a caravan park.

Today The Border Mail could not tell its readers with any certainty where in fact they may be seeking refuge for the night.

"It makes me feel like a bad mum," Sheryl says through tears.

The housing instability has begun manifesting in her children with poor and disruptive behaviour; one of her children is now only able to attend school for half-days.

Not surprisingly, it's made finding employment and a home even more difficult.

But it's not for a lack of trying that Sheryl can't find her family a home - she is constantly applying for rentals and transitional housing.

But not only are the rents and bonds too expensive for an unemployed mother of three, but her story is not a unique one meaning waitlists are extensive.

"I've been on the department of housing waitlist for nine years now, I'm 13th on the list for Wangaratta and 28th here in Wodonga," Sheryl says.

"There's no timeline for that, it could be three years before I get to 20th on the list."

Vicki Meadows is Sheryl's case worker at Junction Support Services and says the insecurity and constant knockbacks are taking their toll on the family.

"It's her son's birthday next month and he might not be able to have a party or even a cake because Sheryl doesn't know where she's going to be living," Vicki says.

"Sheryl has been avidly looking for work as well to try and make her situation better, but the thing is when you're staying with friends and family, obviously you're contributing to where you're staying.

"When you don't know where you're staying from one day to the next, you can't prepare or plan for the future.

"They've suffered really significant family violence and Sheryl has been fantastic with her children, she's been incredibly protective and all she wants is a home to call her own so that her children can go to school and live a normal life.

"She deserves to have that opportunity and we're just finding it really difficult to find that."

There is a chronic need for housing across the Border region, with rental vacancy rates sitting 0.3 per cent and crisis accommodation services inundated with requests for help.

In the last financial year, BeyondHousing provided 11,500 nights of accommodation, which represents a 128 per cent increase over the year before.

Rachel Habgood, community development manager at Junction, says "it would be one thing if this was one story, but it's hundreds".

"So whenever you go for transitional housing or for public housing, there's always somebody who has got a higher level of risk," she points out.

"Because Sheryl has been so protective and been such a wonderful mother, sometimes the extra high level supports don't come into play.

"We're seeing more and more people needing support and it's just not there."

Rachel says Sheryl's son acting out was simply a reflection of their unfortunate situation.

"The research tells us that children will out act because of what's happening mentally or emotionally for them, it has nothing to do with them being a bad child," she says.

"The children are exhibiting behaviours due to not feeling safe ultimately."

Sheryl says it would mean the world to her and her children to finally have somewhere to call their own, to begin to rebuild their life and relationships.

"It's mainly them I'm concerned about, I want somewhere that I can get them settled," she says.

"Once my son gets settled his attitude will change, he was different before we came back to Wodonga.

"My youngest boy starts school soon, so it's going to be hard getting them all to school when I don't know where I'm going to be living.

"God it would be good for (to have a home) ... we could get that relationship back and settle down."