At age four, Marcel Wysinger is already facing 16 months of cancer treatments for neuroblastoma.
Spending weeks at a time in Children’s Hospital of Michigan, he is fighting through multiple bone marrow transplants, five rounds of chemotherapy and extensive radiation. Throughout it all, his mom Shanon has been at his side.
Unfortunately, caring for her child through his cancer treatments meant the loss of her job and all of the income associated with it. Her employer told her that her choice was “to come to work and keep your job, or stay with son and lose your job.” She chose her son.
As a single mother having worked her whole life, Shanon had built a 17-year career in special education. However, when she filed for unemployment, she was told she was not eligible because she had quit her job – not been fired. As a result, she struggled to get by on $400 per month in social security and minimal child support payments.
New Day Foundation was able to step in for Shanon and Marcel to help bridge the financial gap they faced due to both cancer treatments and loss of income. By helping with mortgage payments and property taxes, we were able to keep the family in their home. Assistance with car payments made it possible for Shanon to get Marcel to and from treatments when they were not living in the hospital. Groceries were also an added expense, as well as a risk to take Marcel into a grocery store while his immune system was compromised. New Day’s army of volunteers both shopped for and delivered groceries to the family’s home.
Today, Shanon said she feels a sense of relief that her immediate financial worries have been resolved. While Marcel still faces a long road in his cancer journey, she says, “He’s our Ninja warrior!”
