Family of 6 in Crisis facing Homelessness

First, let me finish swallowing my pride and step out of my comfort zone because it is hard to admit that you can't do it alone and it's time to ask for help. I feel so embarrassed, but my family is in crisis and facing homelessness after surviving years of abuse. I never would have imagined that I would be facing the never-ending challenges that have made me a Mother in desperation.

In 2021 I went against the council of my church, my family, and my friends and reported my husband of 16 years for the sexual abuse of two of our daughters. Everyone told me that I would end up in financial ruin if I did and that it was better to just keep it quiet. I was shocked by the advice and disappointed by the lack of concern for the safety of my children. Needless to say, I did not follow that advice and reported the abuse to the authorities.

The bad news is, that everyone was right. I find myself in financial ruin. Over these past 2 years not only were there the criminal cases, but we have also been going through a horrible divorce. As he doesn't seem to have anything to lose he has turned to retaliation and promised he would drag the divorce out for as long as he could and vowed to make me and our children homeless and penniless. He has just about done it.

He has managed to disrupt every aspect of my life including relationships, transportation, my bank, my credit, and most disgustingly our two youngest children's Social Security Disability benefits. These ongoing disruptions to the flow of income and the ever-increasing attorney fees and court costs have now put me in a hole that I can not climb out of. And with both sides of the family angry at me for destroying my husband's life to protect my children, they have turned their backs on us. The good news is that after the criminal proceedings, he is now serving two 5 to life sentences in prison and we are safe, well mostly safe.

Over the last two and a half years, my faith in humanity and the justice system has all but turned to ashes. I do have to give credit to my local police department which responded to every stalking call and protective order violation and kept us safe from the many death threats to both me and our children, and to my sweet friend Kristi who gave up everything to help us for as long as she possibly could, but it has all come to the final breaking point.

I have over $80,000 of debt just due to the divorce left to pay off. I no longer receive child support due to his incarceration and any money that he has been ordered to pay, I will never see. The bills have piled up and now with the disruption from further false claims, my little boys have lost their SSI and have to pay back $17,000 in overpayments. I am of course going to fight the decision because they have based it on incorrect information (another attack from my ex), but unfortunately, it takes time and there are no guarantees. Fighting his ongoing attacks is time and money we don't have. There are no assets available, and any access to equity in our home has been tied up in court again, and even if I sold our home the equity would be placed on hold by the court. I am between a rock and a hard place, with no way out. Every path has become a dead-end. 

I am trying to raise our 5 children, with the two youngest children having medical disabilities. One was born with a rare condition called Alagille Syndrome and had a liver transplant when he was 22 months old. He has ongoing medical care and will for the rest of his life. I have no idea how to continue the level of care he needs with the situation we are in. Medicaid only does so much. Our youngest was born at just 27 weeks gestation and has chronic lung disease from underdeveloped lungs and scar tissue from his 4 months in the NICU. He had a cardiac arrest when he was a baby and has developmental delays. Our oldest child was just recently hospitalized due to the overwhelming stress and trauma. It is so heartbreaking to see a father hurt so many of his children that he claims to love so much.

I am doing everything I can to keep us going and pay the bills, but I am failing and need help. I have my main job and 2 additional part-time jobs, and I donate plasma twice a week. I have put much of my furniture and many personal belongings for sale in the local classifieds hoping to scrape enough to make the next housing payment. I have already applied for many assistance programs and find that the waiting list is very long, or they were already disrupted my my ex (food stamps for example).

Any funds raised will go towards our housing costs of $1,057 a month and for utilities and food which is around $1,000 more a month. I am hoping to raise enough to cover a couple of months' expenses so I can get my feet back under me. Anything raised beyond that will go towards medical bills, gas, insurance and then towards the massive loans, and maxed credit cards used for the legal fees I needed to get my children out of the abuse. Those add up to over $2,000 more in minimum payments a month.

I will not go down without a fight but this battle is bigger than I can conquer alone. I am only asking for whatever help you can give and don't expect to be lifted entirely out of this dangerous and scary place in life. I hope that the powers that be will direct this to the right people and that we will be saved. Every little bit helps and is greatly appreciated.