Help Ryan Rebuild After Family Turmoil

Hello, my name is Ryan Woods. Currently, my family is in a rough situation and I am looking for any help that I can get. My good friend recommended that I start a GoFundMe, and I was very reluctant. I’ve never done anything like this before, but ultimately if it can help my family then I will try anything I can.

Currently, I have my 3 children in my care, and their mother has been removed from the house. Last summer, my wife was working at a youth homeless shelter. There she met a high school kid that was staying at the shelter. It is only a temporary service and eventually he had to leave. Some time after, there was a knock at my door one afternoon. It was a young man and he asked if *my wife’s name* lived here. She drove a very recognizable vehicle, and he had seen it in the driveway. I asked my wife if she would like to visit with the young man and she obliged.

He would periodically come over from time to time afterward and he seemed to be a good kid. I was told many stories of the alleged abuse that he suffered at home, and why he ran away in the first place. Eventually, he ended up running away again, and he was told “not to come back”. He asked if he could stay with us until he could find a place to go; we had the extra space and my wife was staying at home at the time, so we obliged.

Well, long story short, one evening I discovered that there was an inappropriate relationship occurring between them. I sought out her family and asked for support in dealing with the situation. She refused to end the relationship and so we involved the authorities. (He was of legal age, so the legality was not quite clear to us at the time) He was removed from the house, CPS became involved, my wife was arrested, and my two step kids removed from the home. CPS filed child abuse charges against me and my wife. I am being charged because they claim that I knew that it was occurring, which is false. That was a year ago. A month prior to all of that, my wife revealed to me that she has not used our tax return to pay the taxes on the house, and shortly after, she bought herself a 98 Jaguar convertible with the money, that stalled the moment she brought it home. She had the logins and apps on her phone to pay bills, and up until that point had made sure the payments went through and communicated any issues. This time she informed me that she hadn’t paid the mortgage in 3 months, or the energy bill either. So, she left me in a mountain of debt, and then got arrested (and bailed out by her mom) and essentially left me to pick up all the pieces.

I was able to work throughout the year and chip away little by little at the debts, but I’ve been unable to work this summer because I have no childcare. Thankfully, I have a wonderful new woman in my life who has been able to help out a bit, but this has been very overwhelming for her as well. Also, I’ve been dealing with CPS all year. I have complied with all that they have asked of me but my court-appointed lawyer does not communicate with me and I cannot afford a lawyer. My child abuse trial is later this month, and I don’t know where the case is at because my lawyer doesn’t return calls or emails. The bills are piling up, and I plan to find new work when school starts up, but that’s still a ways off.

So, I am asking for help. Anything that you can offer is appreciated. I don’t have any family that is in a position to help, and I’ve been shouldering this burden for the last year. My kids deserve better than this. I’ve tried as hard as possible, and held it together this long, but we could really use some help.

Thank you to anyone that read this. I appreciate your time.