The fallout from the potential eviction of the homeless at North Wagga's Wilks Park campsite has put the people living there in an impossible position.
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Already living a tough existence and with no permanent place to call home, those camping out say the eviction letter, and subsequent backflip from council, has made life even more difficult.
Tania Jacobsen said the past few days have been stressful with the threat of eviction hanging over her head.
"I'm a bit worried about where we're going to go ... you can't keep couch surfing on people's couches, your friends, there's only so many times you can go there," she said.
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Ms Jacobsen, 43, has been living in a tent in the park for the past three weeks, but has been homeless for the past "year and a half" after a house fire robbed her of her home of 12 years on Bardia Street in Ashmont.
She has spent most of that year living between a Forest Hill caravan park and the Wagga Showground, but personal circumstances have led her to camp out at Wilks Park.
"It's cold, I cried the first couple of nights I came down here, it was freezing. I had a bit of a mental breakdown for a while and came down here by myself for a couple of days," she said. "I cried myself to sleep the first couple of days ... all I had was a blanket on the floor of the tent and a blanket over me."
Ms Jacobsen said she was "top of the list" for emergency social housing, but had been told there were no houses to give and until that happened she hoped to be able to stay at the site.
"There's nowhere else to go. At least you've got toilets here, you've got water, barbecue, it's something. It's not showers, but there are places we can go," she said.
But ultimately, she longs for a permanent place to call home. "Just any sort of roof over our head, somewhere to call home," she said.
Tony Bethune, 50, lives at the camp in his makeshift home with his partner. He's lived at the site for six months and, like Ms Jacobsen, said he was on the list for social housing.
The attention caused by the eviction letter had raised awareness about the harsh conditions the homeless face, he said, and he hoped it resulted in service providers taking a different approach to providing help.
"You go to these agencies, they reckon they'll get you work, nothing. Everyone keeps kicking people along to the next stage ... you just don't get nowhere," he said.
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