Hello, my name is Marlene. For the last 12 years my son and I have lived in the same apartment with our cat named Pepper. We have called this two bedroom apartment not only our home but OUR sanctuary, as we lived a life full of ministry.

A couple of months ago I began -a mental health downward spiral, which lead to my pending eviction.

You see, shortly after we moved to Tustin, my son was “almost molested,” my a child from the church. I say almost molested because I cannot say what really happened… but what I do know is that my son was discovered FULLY NAKED and the other boy had his clothes on.

Needless to say I went straight to the church leadership and I was met with, “You’re imagining it.” And “You’re responding this way because you were abused…” and my favorite was, “If you go to the police they will take your son away from you.”

Regardless of what was being said to me, I continued to demand answers and an investigation into how the other boy learned this behavior. So I went to mandated reporter after mandated reporter.

Meanwhile, my son and I grew further and further apart. He blamed me for everything bad in his life. He blamed me for taking him to church and then blamed the church that continued to use and manipulate us (abused us spiritually).

Because of this, I gave all of my time and energy on proving the abuse was real which left me in a mentally unstable position. I am asking for help with attorney fees that I need to pay to my apartment or else my son and I will be evicted from the only home that he remembers.

My son and I have been through hell these last couple of years as he blamed me for all the pain that he had endured. And now that we are where we are… he is just wanting to come home. If you are able, I would greatly appreciate your help.