A mother is praying for a miracle as Government bounces her and her children from guest house to guest house while she struggles to keep her family together.

?I?m not going out like that, there?s no way,? she said. ?I?ve got my wits and I?m not going to let this fly.

?This is too much of Government just playing people for nothing.

?My children and I ... we?re homeless. We just need anything to keep us together until my son and I can get it going again.?

Admitting she had called Family Services to see if she could get her five-year-old daughter placed in temporary accommodations, she said: ?That would kill us.

?If we can just stay together, in no time we?re going to be on our feet. I know I?m hoping for a miracle. But they do happen.?

The woman, who did not wish to be named, claims she was sexually assaulted several years ago and the experience left her devastated and unable to work. ?It?s definitely not an excuse,? she said. ?Before that I was working two jobs, I was on the ball.?

Adding she was more than $11,000 in arrears to the Bermuda Housing Corporation, she said she was evicted last year.

However, Government then appointed her as a caregiver for her aunt, who is disabled, and the woman and her daughter moved into her aunt?s house. Government also appointed one of her aunt?s daughters to act as an ?overseer?, ensuring the aunt got the care she needed.

The woman remained unemployed, supporting herself and her family through alimony from a former marriage and paycheques from her 19-year-old son, who was working in a department store.

Though her aunt?s landlord accepted the situation at first, when her 19-year-old son was also forced to move in to the one-bedroom house, she said he ?understandably? decided enough was enough.

The family were given three months to leave the house, she said. She immediately alerted both Government and her aunt?s daughter in hopes of getting her aunt assessed and possibly placed in a home while she struggled to find both a job and living accommodations to support her family.

?I couldn?t leave her,? she said.

?She was falling down all the time, she was covered in bruises. She spent one weekend on the floor because my son was away and I couldn?t lift her up.

?Everyone was dragging their feet,? she said. Government appeared to be doing nothing, and her aunt?s daughter stopped returning her phone calls.

Finally, in desperation, the woman called Shadow Community and Cultural Affairs Minister Louise Jackson. ?In three days she did what Government did not do in three months,? she said.

The woman said three days later Government had assessed her aunt and said a place in a rest home would be available to her ? however they could not specify when, or which home.

Then, after yet another fall three weeks ago, the woman called an ambulance and her aunt was checked into the hospital for treatment.

When she spoke with last week, the woman did not know if her aunt had been checked out yet.

The woman, her daughter, and her son were evicted from her aunt?s home on March 22, and gained temporary accommodation at Astwood Cove apartments, which she paid for.

When they were evicted from Astwood Cove on March 26, however, she went to Government yet again in desperation ? and Financial Assistance began paying for the family to stay in guest houses.

The family was bounced from Pomander Gate to Rosedon to Brightside to Domaine Guest Houses, all within the space of two weeks, leaving the woman little time to find a job or place to live.

They have been told they can stay at Domaine until April 27 ? but after that, the woman was told by Financial Assistance that they could no longer pay for her living expenses, and that it may be time to reconsider placing her daughter in foster care.

?I?m not going out like that,? she said. ?There?s no way. If we can stay together, we?ll be alright.?

She thanked God for her daughter?s headmistress and teacher. ?They have been so helpful ? her teacher actually picks her up and takes her to school and home again each day.?

Now her son, who has been accepted to college starting in June, may have to give up on a college education.

?His dreams are being crushed. He?s a good kid, his approach is right.?

Going to other family members is not an option, she said, and, with her debt to the BHC, she was unsure Government emergency housing would be made available to her. ?I?ve put my children and myself in jeopardy.

?We?ve just been left out in the cold ? and it?s cold.?