Help Hear Me Roar

Dreams of ending the nightmare  of the social injustice of domestic violence.  

The Story and the Hear Me Roar Challenge Fundraiser >>

In 2002, she was told by numerous specialists she was unable to have children. Then, in 2004, she got pregnant and had a son. At first, creating a family life with a precious baby boy, seemed magical, exhilarating and filled with joy, but it was not to last. Her life was soon to be flipped upside-down.

After she gave birth to her first child, things turned difficult and abusive. She tried to work things out, as she invested in the commitment to raise a child as a couple. For a short time, things seemed back to normal. Then, she became pregnant with her second child. During this pregnancy, things took a wild turn for the worse - quickly. While four months pregnant and with her 18 month old son, her friend who was visiting briskly dragged her out of the house to safety and to the police station for help after she was severely threatened by the child's father. It scared her friend severely. It turned out the police could do nothing unless the children's father broke her car window or ruined any of her property.

After he moved out, with motivation from ten of her friends, the non-stop phone calls and threats escalated. Statements by her and several witnessess were provided to police again and again, but yielded no assistance.  She took her baby son, called her doctor and took the advice to get to a safe place, so she hid in a hotel for the weekend in shock not realizing they were victims of domestic violence (DV). She didn't know about DV help organizations or hotlines.

With all the stress of dealing with her "Ex", she went into pre-term labor four months early and the doctor and nurses were concerned for her safety. As a result she was given a code name to prevent actual or threatened emotional and/or physical harm from the children's father.  

** She had no idea she was about to enter the toughest fight of her life.**

After a time, pieces of the mysterious puzzle began to fall shockingly into place. With help from the a sergeant at a local police department and the librarian at a local university's law school, it was discovered, while her kids were both under the age of 3 years, that her ex had a Federal conviction after being arrested by ATF for manufacture of pipe bombs and shooting a 9mm off in a neighborhood.  He also had four prior arrests consisting of assault, larceny, and concealed weapon.  His criminal record and parole records indicated he required mental health facilities. Her heart felt as though it stopped and she felt the blood drain from her head. She was in shock and disbelief. How could she not know?

She read documents from credible sources about the fraud and child abuse eminating from the father's family on the news, seven state's US DOJ indictment records and public FBI statements.

Only once, out of many mandatory reports, was his parenting time removed and supervised parenting Court Ordered for kicking their daughter, who was three years old at the time.

In July 2013, the the mother's state criminal court awarded the mother an Abuse Prevention/Restraining Order, which has been renewed in 2014 and is still active.

In March 2015, one state's Court asserted jurisdiction. A small and short-lived victory, as the children's father filed another Motion to Enforce Parenting Time in another state asking the court that the mother be jailed and fined.  He neglected to mention to the court that he unilaterally forfeited his Court Ordered parenting time in Oct/Nov 2014 and again in Feb 2015. She filed a Motion to Dismiss based on the mother's home state's assertion of jurisdiction, but the father's state's Court ignored it and scheduled another Hearing for June 2015.

As a result, the mother now has to endure the emotional and financial burden of litigation in two states in June plus coordinating 15-20 specialists for her son's IEP meeting in June!

The father has a $0 child support obligation. 

Medical Complications
To complicate matters, her son has learning disabilities (Special Ed), PTSD (from the domestic violence at the hands of hisfather), ADHD, asthma, allergies. Her daughter suffers from PTSD (from being physically and emotionally abused by her father) causing counseling, medical, and various other medical costs to be excessive for the proper care of the children.  In a recent report, her son benefitted significantly from integrating a Therapy Dog into his curriculum at his last Special Education school placement. His new full time therapeutic day school does not have a therapy dog.  He loves dogs and the benefits of having a Service Dog would be emotionally, spiritually and academically significant for him and the entire family.  The mother's emotional, physical and financial health were declining severely. This lead to her being diagnosed with PTSD.

The mother and her children can no longer be on this path alone. They need your help. Please consider donating as generously as you can. "It takes a village", as we all know. Please be a part of her village by sharing her story with others. Together, we can make a difference in the life of this terrific family.

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       THE "HEAR ME ROAR" CHALLENGE

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What is the "Hear Me Roar" Challenge?
An activity involving the LOUDEST ROAR by an individual or group showing the need to end domestic violence and generate donations for these victims. 

Let the world know that domestic violence must end with your LOUDEST ROAR and donation to this campaign. Post yours, or your team's, loudest roar to YouTube and add #HearMeRoarChallenge #NoMore.

Email: Send your link of your YourTube ROAR to: [email redacted]

Twitter: Tweet, share, add your ROAR video or links:
www.Twitter.com/HearMeRoarEndDV

Google+   +HearMeRoarChallenge  https://goo.gl/uG4afi 

YouTube: https://goo.gl/TlkJmy 

Why "Hear Me Roar" Challenge?
There is a family who has endured domestic violence challenges who desperately needs to hear your roar to know you've got their back and you'd like to help with your voice or donation.

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Sharing your ROAR and donations will make a difference to tip the scales of injustice for domestic violence victims.
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Any and all  unused proceeds will be donated to the following:  REACH beyond domestic violence http://reachma.org/ , directly to any other victim of domestic violence in need of financial help, or if you tweet using @HearMeRoarEndDV in your tweet, add a link to your preferred non-profit or GoFundMe cause related to ending domestic violence or supporting victims of domestic violence so it's clear where support is needed.

I give back through knowledge:
1. I help others figure out how to do legal research
2. I created a hashtag: #LifeHack4DV where I post my ways to keep safe (children and adults) with technology
3. I post links to resources that may help those who are impacted by Domestic Violence and those caring for traumatized and/or Special Needs children