Join Sarah's Battle to Bring Ellie Home

Hi, my name is Sarah Nelson. I'm married to my husband Brent Nelson and between us both we are raising four beautiful girls. My first Born's name is Ellie is she is now 8 years old. Back in the fall, Ellie was going through a lot emotionally/mentally and having trouble at school. She went to stay with her grandma and while she was there, some allegations were made to which I suggested a sit down meeting to talk about how we can help Ellie and why these things were being said. Her grandmother went to my dad and step mom first without discussing it with me. A cys investigation was opened and Ellie went to temporarily stay with her grandma while it was investigated. Investigation was shown to be unfounded and closed. By the time we got the letter of closure, Ellie was already attending a new school and getting used to a new routine. The agreement, from the beginning, was that Ellie could temporarily stay there until the end of the school year and then come back home. Grandma jumped on the opportunity to take Ellie reassuring me that she would be taken well care of, get her to the Dr, could get her to her mental health evaluation that I made for Johnstown. Grandma only live 5-10 minutes from her pcp and psychiatrist so I agreed to let her stay because at this point we all want to help Ellie. In January, without notifying me or talking about it, Grandma sues me for custody of Ellie and wants to take me to court. She told me she wasn't trying to take Ellie! That it was just to make medical situations easier. So I assumed maybe this was just to grant her something temporary. I go to the pre-trial conference without an attorney.

Now this is important. At this current time I can't afford an attorney. I don't have the option of a free or pro-bono lawyer because I called and they couldn't represent me. They said they already represented Melanie and it was a conflict of interest.

I go to the pre-trial and tell them that I want Ellie back at the end of the school year. Its not something she's willing to do or compromise on. I get a second letter for the actual court date which was for April 25th.

I call around to about 20 different lawyers making sure there's nothing else I can do. I had to travel to Cambria county because that's where she filed for it to be. My county's free lawyers weren't able to travel to Cambria County. I took the majority of our tax return to pay for an attorney the first time around.

The first court date, not much gets accomplished. Her attorney ends up pushing the time back. It felt like it was being dragged out. A nine hour court day and all we got through was Ellie's testimony and her grandma's. We need a second day to fight this out. I need the chance to get my voice heard on the stand now.

Long story short, I truly believe in my heart that Ellie needs to be with her mother and sisters, in her school, with her friends, in the place she's been at the past 5 years.

The court fees were hard enough to pay the first time around but this second time around is even worse with how expensive living expenses are right now. I want Ellie back. There should be no reason a grandma needs to be raising a child except for some extreme situations. I am a loving, fair, protective mother that provides and sacrifices for my family. I miss Ellie so much and the place she belongs is with me! (Us)

The funds will allow me to secure my attorney for day two so I can get Ellie home