Domestic Violence Surviving Family of 6

Hello,

My name is Emily Sloan and I am looking for help for my best friend and her family. Let me tell you about them. There is Tessa and her 5 kids ages 11 boy, 10 boy, 8 boy, 5 boy, and 4 girl. Tessa is one of those people who you cant help but love. She is the sweetest and kindest person. She will give you the shirt off her back. I am going to describe these kids in the only proper way, as candy. 11 boy is Smarties, 10 boy is Sour Patch Kids, 8 boy is Sweet Tarts, 5 boy is Pop Rocks, 4 girl is Sugar Baby. It seems like bad thing happen to the best people and this family is a perfect example of this.

In the last 10 months they have been through hell. I don't know how Tessa is holding it together but she is fighting hard. Let me start at the very beginning. In 2011 Tessa was married to who she thought was the love of her life. It wasn't long after that the abuse started. Like many in her position she stayed because of all the promises that were never kept and she kept telling herself that "this time it will be better, it will be different" yet it never lasted. By the end of 2022 they had been married 11 years and had 5 kids together.

Now I want to get to the beginning of her hell and the reason many women stay in abusive relationships. The day after thanksgiving everything got worse. It lasted in to the night and early morning of the 26th. That morning the lives of the whole family changed. It got so bad that the eldest son had to call the cops on his father. He was arrested and there was a no contact order placed for her and all 5 children. This was the start of the single mom of 5 kids life for Tessa. She has been working full time to try and pay all her bills but it isn't enough to cover all the bills, needs of the kids, and ungodly expensive divorce attorney fees. Attorney fees she is still paying on and will be for at least the next year.

Her youngest two were not school aged so she relied on the help of a family friend to babysit them while she worked. She was lucky at this time her job allowed her to work from home if the kids were sick and had to stay home or if there was a school holiday. Unexpectedly she lost her sitter and I took over for her while she found something more permanent. I knew how much she was struggling so I refused to let her pay me a penny. She didn't need another thing to worry about. During the time I watched the little ones She was able to work with DSHS to get them into a year round preschool / Daycare.

It is always one thing after another right? Well Tessa was in a car accident and her vehicle was in the shop for weeks. She still figured out a way to get her kids to where they needed to be and to continue to get to work. Of course her insurance didn't cover all the expenses so that added to her financial troubles. Making ends meet was getting harder and harder.

Tessa was so excited to get a job promotion thinking that would help but with that she lost being able to work from home. She found out really fast that sick days and PTO go really fast when you have 5 kids. When one kid gets sick they all eventually get sick. Then there is days school is out on work days, doctor appointments, school meeting, and other things that come up. Now she is out of sick time and every little thing she has to miss work she misses hours.

Her youngest son has been referred to a specialist that is 2 hours away. Now she will miss work and have to spend more on gas than she can afford. On top of this she is dealing with an issue that can not be talked about yet and it is going to force more time off work.

Her bills are piling up. Power, gas and internet are all behind. Part of rent was paid by a church. Food stamps are not enough. She feels like she is drowning. Now time for the straw that is trying to break the camels back. Today Oct. 4th she was forced to resign from her job. The reason they gave was that she has too many personal issues that is keeping her from doing her job properly. What else was she supposed to do? What would you do? She has immediately started to look for a new job but she needs help until she can get a new one.

Lets get her the help to catch up on bills, pay upcoming bills, get the kids Halloween costumes, have an amazing Thanksgiving, Christmas, Birthdays, and get her to and from the long distance doctor appointments. I want to help get her some breathing room while looking for a new job.