Mother and disabled daughter evicted from Ballyclare home as rent increase unaffordable
Just before Christmas UTV highlighted the plight of Josie Armstrong from Ballyclare.
The mother of four spoke to us about the financial struggles of not being able to afford presents due to the additional costs of looking after her daughter Paige who is disabled.
Sadly, the situation has worsened and Josie and her young family were evicted from their home a few weeks ago as she couldn't afford an increase in the rent.
They are now living in temporary accommodation miles away in the Rathcoole Estate.
Josie is devoted to six-year-old Paige who has complex needs and mobility issues.
But the temporary home the family has now moved into isn’t wheelchair accessible nor equipped for anyone with a disability.
Josie said: “It's upsetting because obviously, it's not the house we’re used to. It’s too small. We can’t fit her specialist equipment inside. It’s now in storage.
"We have to go to the Children’s Hospice and bathe her once a week.
"It’s not safe to take her up and down the stairs.
"It's bad enough I have to do it at night and in the mornings.
"She's already had a seizure on the stairs. She fell down stairs once and she's had a seizure in the bath”.
New research by the charity Sense shows that the financial situation has worsened for four in five disabled people in Northern Ireland, with more than half now in debt.
Josie who has three other young girls knows that only too well.
“It's like a vicious circle,” she said.
“You know, we worry about electricity or you worry about food and you have to have the heat on because you can't control a room temperature.
"We have to control it for her. I have to wash her clothes separately from everybody else because she has MRSA, so her stuff must be completely cleaned.
"I’m running the washing machine multiple times a day. I have no other choice”.
When UTV highlighted Josie's plight at Christmas she was inundated with help from the local community but she said it shouldn’t be left to other people to help.
She said the Government should step up.
Sense is calling for further financial support for disabled families from the Government, ahead of the Spring Budget. Josie agrees
“I would love to challenge someone from the government to come and swap lives with me for a day to see what it would be like to scrape the pennies just to buy a loaf of bread or go to the food bank maybe once or twice a week”.
Josie says she’s been promised a new accessible home but she could be waiting a year or more before it is ready to move into.
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.