Rebuilding After Domestic Violence

Hi everyone,

My name is Anna Invictus. You may or may not know my story. After surviving ongoing domestic violence, my three children and I have recently been freed—and, hopefully, will finally remain so—from the hands of my extremely violent and manipulative husband. If you wish to understand, the full depth and context of these experiences was discussed in a recent article in the Huffington Post. However, my own desire at this time is to place those painful memories aside as much possible, so that I can ensure those experiences will not prevent me from protecting my family, and being certain of our safety as we move on. Now that my husband was denied bond at a hearing last Friday, I need to prepare quickly for upcoming court proceedings and the trial. I will then navigate our divorce and obtain full custody of my children. At that time, my children and I will finally be prepared to embrace our life to come.

My sense is that my family and I have already passed through the worst moments of these events and found our freedom. Now that we have attained this great freedom, I am resolved to protect it and carry forward. I want nothing more, than to fulfill my full responsibility to my family as their mother. I would love to preserve all of my energy to be able to simply devote myself to that great gift and joy which is spending time with my precious children. Sadly, after all that has occurred, I have truly been left financially with nothing. I do desire to work, and I fully intend to as soon as I am able. However, in order to sustain ongoing employment, I must have already laid a groundwork for our safety. This will require me to devote much of my strength over the next three months towards the events of the upcoming trial.

This is why I am humbly requesting your assistance in covering the basic needs of my family to get us through. My hope is that your support will allow me to dedicate my energy to caring for my children and moving swiftly and safely through all trial proceedings. It is my greatest wish of all that when these tides have passed, I will truly see that I have laid down the stones for a stable foundation to raise my children. I want them to have a safe, happy and normal future.

Undoubtedly, standing up to take back my life has been the most Herculean task of my life, but I no longer want to be a victim. I will not allow this horror to define my life, nor to impact the future of my beautiful children. I am fully resolved to pursue the path ahead until I find the clearing, into sustainable freedom and happiness for my family. To attain this, one thing I must overcome is a challenging financial hurdle. If we can pull together the means to sustain us through the tumultuous events we will face now, I will be so much more certain we are ready for the future. I want my children and I to finally be able heal. I want to move forward knowing that I am fortifying a foundation which will ensure we can all embrace the happiness which I sense in my heart lays ahead in our future.

 

Fundraiser Goals
 
At this time, I use food stamps to pay for my family’s groceries; I live simply; I am happy with this. That said, we genuinely are in need of a few things which will make life easier and ensure I can sustain the energy I need until the upcoming trial is over. Once that has occurred, I will be once again capable of working and getting myself back on my feet. For this reason, my fundraiser will only ask for three months’ worth of your assistance which should cover our needs, although our trial date has yet to be set. I am so thankful to have received so much support already in confronting and overcoming this difficult time, and my gratitude is overflowing.

To summarize these three months’ costs, for the first month I will need $2,000. Over the next two months, I will need $1,240 per month, so a total of $2480. Then, in order to cover our biggest and final attorney fee, I will need to raise $2,500. This all comes to a grand total of $7,000. I have broken down our specific expenses in detail below, and you can also help by purchasing specific items off my Amazon wish list, which you can see here .
 

·      I have found a home for $700 per month, with $300 per month for utilities. 

·      I homeschool my 13-year-old daughter, and internet in my home would make doing this with her so much easier. The internet setup fee is $125 and then will cost $75 per month.

·      I must upgrade my 18-month-old son’s car seat. He is growing out of his old one and I want a safe replacement, which I estimate to be about $80-$100. 

·      I will need beds for my boys. My oldest toddler will be three soon, and he, my 18-month-old and I are quickly outgrowing my queen-sized bed. I think approximately $200 will cover two small beds for the boys.

·      Ensuring my children have proper shoes and clothing throughout the spring will cost $100. 

·      Diapers and wipes will be an expense of $50 per month.  

·      I estimate our household items—trash bags, dish soap, toilet paper, and shampoo—to cost about $10 a month. 

·      Although I hardly drive, I will need about $50 per month for fuel for my vehicle. 

·      As I have said, I want nothing more at this time than to prepare my family for a peaceful, normal life. Part of that is involving ourselves in the community and especially in sports. My daughter would like to join a soccer team, and my 3-year-old will join a T-ball team. Both of these come with fees: Soccer admin fees have already been covered, but I need to buy shoes, socks, and cleats. I estimate this to be about $100. T-ball is $110.

·      A YMCA membership, which is another way I wish to provide a sense of normalcy and stability to my family, a YMCA membership will cost me $54/month for all of us. 

·      Over the course of his abuse, my estranged husband destroyed my phone, and I struggle to use my phone through the shattered screen. It would take around $100 of your generous donations to have the screen repaired.  

·      Finally, it is essential that I am able to hire a skilled attorney to obtain custody of my boys and to divorce my husband. It is estimated that this will entail a $2,500 retainer fee. 




Our Future

I cannot emphasize enough how much I appreciate all of the help I have received from the community so far, in so many astounding ways. Your kindness is what has inspired me as I summon courage to move forward and bring myself and my family through safe passage into what is to come. My gratitude has no bounds. There are no words available to express the depth of my thankfulness for your donations. I promise to you all, from my heart’s greatest depths, that I will continue to walk in the path of light and be true to my best and most honest intentions:

Family, community, and love. 

 

Sincerely and Warmly,

Anna Invictus