I am Sheena and I am raising funds for my sister, Jesse, and trying to help her get back on her feet after a devastating decade of poverty, domestic abuse, and having her daughter taken by child services.

Let me explain:

Jesse has lived in Louisiana for 14 years, and for the last decade, has lived in poverty. My family and myself have done everything we can to help her and her family, from buying new refrigerators, window a/c units, paying utility bills, and sending groceries many, many times. Jesse has used the help we gave her to feed and clothe her daughter, pay for food and drinking water, and medical expenses. That was enough to keep them alive.

Unbeknownst to us, things were more dire than we knew in the house. I have a statement from Jesse who can explain what was happening to her and her daughter in her own words. (Edited for spelling and clarity, Daughter's name is redacted.)

Jesse Miller Statement:

I met Matthew Madden about 14/15 years ago in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. We both worked for Publix. After he concluded a tumultuous relationship with the mother of his first child, we moved together to the New Orleans area, near where he grew up. We found out we were expecting our daughter on February 15, 2016. I was five months pregnant. I had been brought to the emergency room after leaving work for a seizure, and while I was surprised and happy, her father barely reacted. This was a few days after we had moved into the home of Matt's childhood friend, Jeffrey Stafford.

Shortly before Daughter was born, my younger sibling Sheena Jolie, moved in. When I was seven months pregnant, a statement I made to Matt about how he interacted with women at his job prompted him to throw his heavy steel-toed boot at me with enough force that the whole house heard it strike the armoire beside me. I was lucky he missed. I went and locked myself into the master bathroom for a while until I needed to go to bed for work.

Matthew worked at a private security company called Vets Securing America (VSA) and worked long hours. I worked at a Winn Dixie in Slidell. I worked days, he worked evenings and over nights. Eventually I grew too ill to work, and was admitted to the hospital for two weeks prior to Daughter's birth with pre-eclampsia and complications from gestational diabetes. When Daughter was born, by emergency c-section, Matthew nearly missed the surgery/birth because he was outside smoking a cigarette. Sheena was there to support Daughter and I the whole time.

When we were at home and I was on maternity leave, I would have to take Daughter out to the kitchen or my sister's room so that Matt could sleep for work. My sister would help me care for Daughter so I could have small breaks to shower, eat, and sleep. Sheena observed many incidents of Matt gaslighting me and helped me realize what he was doing.

When Sheena moved out when my daughter was about two, the atmosphere in the household changed. Jeff had been attempting to hit on Sheena before, despite her being technically married at the time and having made it clear she was not interested. Before she moved out, she was forced to threaten to call the cops on him for trying to force his way into her room to continue trying to argue with her. During this period of time, Jeff would eat huge portions of our food, leaving nothing edible behind, and Matt would defend him by saying he was a big guy.

From the time she was born, I assumed/was made to take total responsibility for my daughter and her medical care and schooling. I stopped working to stay home with her and due to my increasing health issues. I applied us for WIC, but we were forced to stop going to the office when Matthew decided it was too embarrassing and that he made too much money. His job would very often forget to pay him on time or correctly. The car he had leased was repossessed and he had to rely on a work provided vehicle to get around and take us to medical and therapy appointments. He eventually got a truck from the combined tax return from claiming our daughter and myself, and the Covid payments.

When his job sent him to Texas, and then Colorado and back and forth between the two states for three months, it left Daughter and I with Jeff and very low on resources or funds. Jeff started drinking more, and would drive the truck drunk despite my warnings not to. He also started to become more aggressive in his heckling of my daughter when funds got low or a bill was due, prompting me to step in and draw his ire.

It was during this time that Matthew was away and the atmosphere in the house was tense between Jeff and I when he was sober, that he would encourage me to drink with him once Daughter was asleep. I would wake up feeling as if I had been touched between my legs or had intercourse, none of which I remembered or consented to. Jeff would try to force me to give him all of the money Matt sent Daughter and I but I would not allow it. Jeff would get drunk and while Daughter and I stayed in our room with the door shut and locked so he couldn't come in, he would scream and yell and bang on the walls. He's a big guy indeed. 6'3 or more and at least 350 lbs. His antics would scare us both and I called the cops for advice twice and got the response that it was his house, so my child and I would have to leave, which wasn't an option. I told Matt quite often that we were scared, and why, even about the molestation, but despite his platitudes, nothing came of it even when he got home.

Over the next few years, Matt took up an internet DJ-ing job after he lost his second security job. He had unemployment for a year or so and I applied the three of us for SNAP. Jeff did not fit the criteria for qualifying as family, but did not file for himself. The truck was repossessed and Daughter and I were forced to use the Verida Non Medical Transportation service through our Medicaid to get to her weekly speech/occupational therapy sessions and our doctor appointments. This service was very unreliable and resulted in many missed (documented) appointments and I even called the State Board of Medical Transportation to file a complaint recently. Once the unemployment stopped, things declined rapidly.

I made sure we stayed current with SNAP, got us to LiHeap and food banks via help from social workers, even a trip to the New Orleans Sewage and Water Board. My friends from various groups on Facebook and in real life, helped me keep the lights on and us fed. So did my sisters, and my parents were amazing. Things would have been bleak if they did not help when I reached out to them. I contacted countless agencies and foundations over the years for help but we still fell through the cracks it seems.

I was victim blamed for the continuing abuse that escalated recently and Matthew didn't care or lift a finger to help me in the moment or after. He would just sneer and say it was my fault. Daughter and I were very scared and eventually I confided to one of my sisters about the abuse.

Then the water was shut off (to the house) and despite me bringing water back to the house from the store and my family sending us food and water, we were struggling to raise money to get a deposit together to turn it on again under Matt's name. The social workers were going to get us a ride there when we were ready.

Then my Daughter was taken away by DCFS, and it was the worst day of my life. After the worst day of my life, I found out that Matt had the money to pay the bills (from his numerous online gigs) and that none of this financial woe should have happened. (I did not know how much money he was making from his online jobs.)

I just want to get back to my family in MA and reunite with my daughter when the time is right.

*****

Jesse needs helps to get out of Louisiana, get a place to live, and medical care for her ongoing health issues and therapy for the years of abuse she suffered. Jesse was failed by the system and deserves some real help and compassion to restart her life.

The GFM will help pay for legal fees and fines, clothing, food, water, a place to stay until her legal issues are resolved, and money to invest in rebuilding her life from literally nothing.

Thank you for taking the time to read my sister's statement.