General News
3 August, 2023
The Salvos lend a helping hand to Mario
Mario Spiteri has lived in his Talbot home for more than 20 years, but in October’s deluge his property was inundated and now almost 12 months on, he’s had to resort to living in a caravan in his front yard. Mario’s insurance company deemed...
Mario Spiteri has lived in his Talbot home for more than 20 years, but in October’s deluge his property was inundated and now almost 12 months on, he’s had to resort to living in a caravan in his front yard.
Mario’s insurance company deemed his home uninhabitable after the guttering system failed under last year’s significant rainfall, with water inundating the property and causing mould.
It meant the 68-year-old had to relocate to a caravan park in Maryborough, later buying a caravan to live in from the front yard of his now inaccessible home.
For Mario, who suffers from a degenerative condition suspected to be motor neurone disease, the situation has taken a toll.
“Because of the mould in the house, we couldn’t have anyone come in to do any work,” he said.
“The insurance company told me I had to get out and I didn’t have anywhere to live. We went to the caravan park in Maryborough for a few months and then the funding (from the insurance company) stopped and I virtually became homeless.
“I was going back and forwards from Maryborough and Talbot twice every day just to feed the dogs which was hard to do, it took a toll.
“They later said they’d made a mistake and money started coming back in, so I bought a caravan to put in the front yard so I could live there.”
Mario has been living in the caravan since February, right through the coldest months, exacerbating what is already difficult given his physical condition.
Describing the situation as frustrating, Mario said the worst thing was that if he was younger, he could have fixed the property himself.
“It was about six months ago I knew I was getting worse with my condition,” he said.
“I feel like I’ve been getting worse every day which is frustrating.
“The whole situation is frustrating, I wish I could do it all and if I was younger I would be able to — that makes it really hard to just have to sit back and not be able to do anything.”
Mario is being supported by Venture Care Support Services, as well as Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre who are assisting him to navigate his insurance claim.
Before he’s able to move back into his home, trades need to remove carpet and floorboards to assess the extent of the water damage.
On Monday, a number of volunteers from The Maryborough Salvation Army rolled up their sleeves and cleared furniture from the rooms ahead of any work taking place, leaving Mario with a big smile on his face.
Maryborough Salvation Army captain Ronald Stobie said the organisation was more than happy to support Mario.
“We had Mario and (support worker) Tristan Doyle come in and share Mario’s story with us, they were basically putting the call out for support,” he said.
“This is a part of The Salvation Army, it’s what we do — we’re often known as a church with our sleeves rolled up and where we can help, we always like to.”
Tristan Doyle, Mario’s support worker and director of Venture Care Support Services, said it was a positive step forward for Mario as they work to get him back into his home.
“It’s only been in the last two months we’ve been able to make some headway for Mario,” he said.
“The thing that’s frustrating for Mario is that in his mind he’s able to fix this and do it all himself but realistically he can’t — that’s hard to come to terms with.
“At the end of the day we’d like to be able to see Mario back in his home, it would alleviate some of the issues he’s currently facing, and the support from The Salvos has really helped us towards that goal.”
