Margaret River woman Serena Leotta facing homelessness as child undergoes treatment for incurable tumour

The housing crisis has bitten hard for a local woman, finding her family with nowhere to live while her eldest child undergoes treatment for an incurable tumour. Serena Leotta has lived in Margaret River since 2005 and fears what could happen if she cannot find a rental home in the tight housing market. The 37-year-old mother of children Freyja, 9, and Will, 17, said her son’s medical condition added to the difficulties her family faced. “Our current rental is being sold,” Ms Leotta told the Times. “We have been here for four years. “The landlords have given me a slight saving grace by letting me stay until the house is sold.” At present, that deadline was looming in 30 days, she said. Meanwhile, Ms Leotta and her family have been forced to travel back and forth to Perth for lifesaving treatment for Will, who lives with an incurable condition called craniopharyngioma – a rare brain tumour which cannot be fully removed without killing the patient. Ms Leotta said the tumour required ongoing treatment and surgeries, affecting Will’s pituitary gland and leaving him with five official disabilities. “Any further radiation will permanently blind Will and cause loss of quality of life and even more brain damage,” his mum said. While many residents were caught up in the region’s critical shortage of rental homes, Ms Leotta said having children and pets added to the challenge. Even worse was that she desperately needed a stable base to care for her son and give her children the best life possible, she said. She told the Times she had a passionate love for the region and was feeling desperate. River Angels has supported the family in recent times and reiterated the plea for anyone with a home, vacating a rental, or with another solution for the struggling family to step forward. The Margaret River-based support charity’s co-ordinator Lynda Donovan said the family’s plight was very difficult and any help from the community would be gratefully welcomed. “On top of all of the stress they’re facing, to be potentially homeless, I can’t even imagine what that would be like,” she said. Ms Leotta isn’t alone in her plight, with River Angels helping six families in recent months facing cancer as well as nowhere to live. After one of Ms Donovan’s clients died, his partner and grandson were left to live in a borrowed tent because of the housing shortage. Just Home Margaret River program manager Alex Hughes said investment in social housing within the shire was now a critical requirement. “Just Home see the current situation within the shire as unsustainable, and if continued, will significantly impact the overall wellbeing of our community,” Mr Hughes said. Anyone able to help Ms Leotta is asked to contact her via sleotta86@gmail.com.