A single mother in the Montreal region could find herself on the street with her 13-year-old daughter suffering from a rare genetic disease since social assistance cut off her financial support due to the value of her adapted home.
The teenager suffers from FOXG1 syndrome, an extremely rare genetic disease of which less than a thousand cases have been reported worldwide and which makes her totally dependent.
“It’s like having a newborn baby. She is non-verbal, she depends on me for absolutely everything,” explains the mother who had to leave her job when her daughter was born to take care of her.
Last August, social assistance cut off its support for Mélanie Castonguay because her property, purchased for $229,000 nine years ago, now exceeds the maximum threshold of $500,000 due to real estate inflation. She thus finds herself without any income to take care of her daughter Léonie.
“I have until June. I did my calculations to last until then at home. After that, I’m in the street,” Ms. Castonguay told Isabelle Maréchal during an interview on QUB radio.
An “illogical” situation
Ironically, it is the house specially designed to meet the needs of his disabled daughter that causes him to lose his social assistance.
“It’s completely illogical. The ramp, the lift, the bathroom, everything is made for my daughter,” she laments.
In addition to losing her social assistance last August, Ms. Castonguay faces a series of daily challenges, particularly with her vehicle specially adapted for her daughter. Without this essential means of transportation, medical appointments become impossible.
«Ma van is 11 years old. She is on the verge of death. If she dies, how do I go to hospital appointments?”, worries the woman who had to cancel four medical appointments last week due to a mechanical breakdown.
The doctors who follow Léonie recommend that her mother obtain social assistance with disability status, but the system refuses to recognize her particular situation.
“We are told that we can go to work since we are not the ones with disabilities. But who will take care of our children while they are sick or hospitalized?” asks the mother.
*This text, generated with the help of artificial intelligence, was reviewed and validated by our team based on an interview carried out at QUB.
