Help Michelle Find Stability and Hope

Hello, my name is Michelle. For over one year, I have been going through an increasingly stressful, highly adversarial, litigious, belittling, and contentious divorce. From the beginning of the divorce, my husband led me to believe that we would work together in the best interest of our grade school daughter. That turned out not to be true. Once we set foot in the courtroom, he did everything he possibly could to keep her away from me. Currently, he has sole custody, sole decision-making rights, and she lives with him. He was able to have the judge order that I have supervised visits only, which I must pay for. I cannot afford those. I have spent 2h 15m of leisure time with my daughter since January 26, 2025. A friend paid for the supervisor for me. I do not get to talk to her regularly on the phone either. Photos and videos I repeatedly ask for have never been sent to me.

My husband was given sole possession of the marital property, our house, during the divorce. He and our daughter live there. He was also given permission by the judge to sell my car. I was forced to leave with only a few hours to gather my things.

I had nowhere to go and was told to get a hotel room with a kitchen because I might be there for a while. As time went on, I realized no financial arrangements were made to pay for me to live at the hotel. I currently am unable to work. I had to borrow money from family, then a family friend paid for a few days. I had to turn to begging friends on my social media accounts for donations so I could pay for my hotel room so my older daughter and I would not end up on the street. I have been blessed to have so many generous friends that have donated money so that I could stay at the hotel. I have been here since February 5, 2025. I expect to be here for several more months.

I began the divorce with legal counsel but could not pay my attorney’s fees for March 2025. My attorneys withdrew from my case. I currently have absolutely no legal representation. He has top-notch representation. He can afford it. He just came back from an extended weekend in North Carolina with our daughter. He has already made reservations for a ten-day vacation staying in a resort on property to Disney World. That's what he can do, and he is unemployed by choice.

The donations from this GoFundMe will enable me to reduce the amount of constant stress and anxiety I am under by giving me the ability to pay for my hotel room in advance. I will also be able to hire an attorney, as all the pro bono ones are not accepting clients when I tried. I will be able to pay for a supervisor so that I may see my daughter, with whom I had a super close bond, regularly. I will also be able to begin to have the freedom to let go of these worries so that I can begin the work I need to do to start my road to recovery from the C-PTSD I was diagnosed with at the beginning of this divorce. Thank you for your generosity and for affording me the opportunity for a better future for myself and my daughter.