Hello,

I'm Cassie - Dakota and Easton are my twin nephews who have not had a remotely normal childhood so far. In the past several years they have been moved about to dozens of places to live with strangers, who were either dating or providing drugs to their mother, been forcibly removed from their mother for a short period of time only to be returned to her because that's how our underfunded and overloaded social welfare system works, and they have daily been neglected to care for their little sister the best they could on their own. Their mother has been addicted to meth for the past several years and is not able to prioritize their best interests at all. They have been living in an unstable environment of poverty, food insecurity, lack of basic resources like water or electricity, and been "cared for" by adults of questionable integrity who have treated them all along the spectrum of kindness to neglect and abuse. I know the obvious question is "where the hell is their father?". My brother is in Georgia, estranged from their mother (his wife) trying to achieve financial stability. He loves his children and wants to keep them with him, but recognizes the vulnerable state that would put him in, which would likely lead to work and housing instability, which would obviously be worse for his children.  His current goal is to be able to secure a larger housing arrangement with space for them, as well as take on a higher level job in his company that will provide enough money to support his children and him.

I have impotently watched these children from afar for years with no way to help them directly, but told my brother the kids would always be welcome in my home. I have finally been given that opportunity to take them into my family for a short period of time. I have 3 children of my own (6,14,17) who are so excited and loving and ready to treat these children well, to maybe help them have a few normal weeks... or months. However, immediately, they need basically everything. I realize there is a community of people who will happily help out however they can, so I'm reaching out now to ask for that help. Caring for a few with the help of many is sort of the beauty of living in a society of caring and empathetic people.

While I do not expect to raise money for all of those things listed below, I figured providing some insight into what I'm facing with them would help clarify the need. I can use all the help I can get to take care of the most pressing needs right now, these next few days.

They need:

I appreciate any help you can provide. They're sweet little people who need some love and compassion, and taking care of their daily needs is the first step in providing that.

I don’t know much about GoFundMe, but I imagine I’ll be able to provide updates on how things are going.

Thank you,

Cassie