My sister has been lost to our family to drugs and alcohol for over 16 years. My grief for my sister is vast and painful. What is more important now is help for my sister's children; 5 little girls who did not choose to be caught in a system that fails them. Three of these girls have a father, my ex brother-in-law who is desperately trying to help them live the childhood they deserve. The courts and CPS have been unable to protect these girls from a life of hell. There have been dozens of CPS complaints filed against my sister and her boyfriend, but nothing that seems to rise to the level of help for the children. Mental injury doesn't show any signs and these children have been warned not to tell.

The children are split between my sister and their dad 50/50. This means for half of their lives, they are stuck living in one hotel room with two adults (my sister and her current boyfriend), a 12 year old, a 9 year old, a 7 year old, a 4 year old and a 2 year old. In one room. For four years. The recent hotel is overrun with cockroaches, drug deals, prostitution, and violent fights. The other half of their time (at least for the three oldest) they spend with their father who has a home and a yard, and makes sure they have contact with all of their grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.

The 12 year old has epilepsy with serious seizure activity due to stress. The seizures do not happen when she is at her dad's house. The neurologist is recommending brain surgery in October. The idea of her convalescing after brain surgery in a seedy hotel for half of her days is horrifying. She has already been held back twice in school due to chronic truancy because her mother can't get her to school. Her sister has been held back once. So far.

My family is hoping to help my ex brother-in-law raise enough funds to pay for a custody dispute. He is asking the court to grant him full custody with supervised visits with their mother. He wants his children to continue to see their mother and their two younger half siblings (there is another on the way), but be free of the constant psychological pressure that they endure when alone in her care. He has an attorney willing to take on this complex case, however he doesn't have the ability to pay the fees that it will take.