Help Us Find Peace After Hardship

I am a survivor of domestic violence and I have 2 young boys ages 5 and 7. I was in the violent relationship for nearly 10 years and they grew up in it their entire lives. The abuse was persistent and non stop and included all forms. He was extremely physically, mentally, emotionally, sexually, and financially abusive to me, mentally and emotionally abusive to the boys, and he even abused the dog in front of the children as a way to control me and make me comply. When I had enough and made the decision I was done he implemented his most extreme and cruel form of abuse and kidnapped my children. I did not get to see or speak to them for 30 days and I had no way of knowing if they were even alive or ok. Finally with the help of a few really amazing people I was able to get enough money thrown together for an attorney retainer and he was able to issue an order to have my boys returned to me. They were only 3 and 5 at the time. As soon as I got them back with full legal custody I loaded the boys, the dog, and a couple of trash bags of clothes and toys into the car and fled the state. We are currently living in a domestic violence shelter minus the car as it was repossessed. I am fighting everyday just to get my boys to and from school and maintain an illusion or a “normal” life for them. I am doing the best I can to piece what is left of our old life back together and build the rest of a new life from scratch but I am struggling to get on my feet to do so. Food and bed are provided by the shelter as well as some donated clothes but some of the hardships I have been facing are transportation, toys (most of which were left behind), child care, and mounting bills and attorney’s fees that have had to go unpaid. Also, after a life of nothing but trauma and instability, I am trying to get us into an apartment of our own as quickly as possible so that my boys may finally experience what a safe and stable life feels like.