Just ten days before the fateful date of July 1st and the ballet of movements, a mother is desperate for a place to sleep with her two teenagers.
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“I’m willing to go into a four-and-a-half room and sleep in the living room for a year or two so my kids each have their own room, but even that’s too expensive,” discouraged Catherine Brunette, 42.
Even though Quebec Prime Minister François Legault said yesterday that no one would be on the streets on July 1, Ms Brunette is afraid to be on the streets on that fateful date.
Since their separation at the end of March, the housewife says she has been more than actively looking for accommodation for herself, her 15-year-old son and her 13-year-old daughter.
“The apartment we had with my ex-husband was $1,480 a month, nothing included, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat if I kept it, so I advised myself to leave,” explains Frau Brunette whose current accommodation is already rented for July 1st.
“If I had known I was going to get into this situation, I would have kept it anyway,” she continues.
another crisis
If Ms. Brunette is desperate to stay in Hochelaga, where she has lived for 16 years, it is so that her children, especially her son, can remain in the school environment that pushes her not to drop out.
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“In the early years of high school, he nearly dropped out. He’s in a special class there, but if I change schools, I’m afraid he’ll drop out,” she explains.
As hell
Ms. Brunette originally set a budget of $1,100 for a five-and-a-half person, but quickly realized that was far from enough.
“I’ve seen two and a half, three and a half for that price, but I can’t go there with two teenagers,” explains Ms. Brunette, who is awaiting accommodation in a low-rent apartment.
Currently, a neighborhood five-and-a-half year old sells for more than $1,350, according to Le Journal’s classified ad search.
And when she finds accommodation, it is often difficult to get it because there are so many candidates in front of her, who are often faster.
“The other day I was supposed to visit a property, I had an appointment, but just before that the owner wrote to me that the apartment was finally rented,” complains the single mother, whose apartment is filled with cardboard boxes.
“I’m thinking about where to store all this,” she adds, looking at the mountains of cardboard boxes.
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