Orphans search for new place to call home
Five Abbotsford siblings who recently lost father face uncertain future after receiving eviction notice
The knocks keep coming for five Abbotsford siblings who are struggling to stay together after their parents suddenly died.
After telling their story to Postmedia last week, the Saint-Ange family received an outpouring of public support and donations, while a judge granted conditional guardianship of the three youngest children — Chelsy, 17, Wade, 16, and Kelsy, 15 — to the two oldest, Nadine, 22, and Nina, 21.
But just as the future seemed a little brighter, the orphaned siblings received an eviction notice from their landlord.
“We want a place we can call home,” Nadine told Postmedia Saturday morning. “We want to fight the eviction, but we’ve been looking for a new place. I don’t want to risk being homeless.”
The lack of a stable home would also put the guardianship in jeopardy.
The family’s trials began after the eldest brother, Ryan, was murdered in 2012. The five remaining siblings were orphaned three weeks ago when their father, Wade, collapsed and died of a heart attack in their kitchen. Their mother, Mary, died of an asthma attack last August.
Nadine said their landlord didn’t change his mind after hearing the family’s story, giving them two months to pack up and move.
“The way the rental market looks, it’s going to be hard,” she said. The family has been forced to move three times in the last year, she added.
Nadine and Nina have continued working, choosing to save the almost $150,000 raised through a GoFundMe page to help with housing and possibly education down the road.
“It’s such a huge help, such a big surprise,” said Nadine about the community support.
The donations came from parents, teachers, neighbours and strangers, said the family’s advocate and friend Jen Macpherson. They family has also received other gifts, including summer jobs, vet care for their two dogs and furniture. The three children are also receiving trauma counselling.
The kindness has given Nadine hope. “We’re just going to keep going,” she said.