JUSTICE AND PEACE FOR A MOM AND HER CHILD

HELP A SOLO MOM AND HER TODDLER FIND JUSTICE, PEACE AND DIGNITY

Hi, Friends!

Ana* is a friend of ours who has become part of our chosen family, and she has gone through much loss and injustice in the past few years. We thought we’d reach out to you for a hand.

As many of you know, Ana is a young Brazilian woman with a US-born toddler who fled a domestic violence situation over a year ago, undocumented, with not more than a few dollars and backpacks to her name.

Throughout the past year she has overcome gigantic challenges, suffered the loss of her beloved father, and against all odds, was able to build a new, peaceful and harmonious home for her child here in MD, where she has found a place to live, community, job prospects, and after a lot of bureaucratic red tape, to guarantee medical care, SNAP benefits and a wonderful subsidized daycare center for her toddler. Her child has thrived in the new community.

However, her divorce and child custody case is ongoing and she has been forced by the state of Florida to return to where the worst of the violence occurred. A place where she has no home, no family, no benefits, no connections, and no community. It's been a harrowing ordeal.

Ana is fighting for her and her child's protection, but it has been a challenge where no pro-bono assistance skilled in the intersection of immigration, domestic violence and divorce/ custody has been available despite our best attempts, and the opposing party has almost unlimited financial resources.

We’re fundraising to offset Ana's legal fees- already at 18K and counting.

NO CONTRIBUTION IS TOO SMALL.

We figured if we know 1,000 people who can donate $20 each, we will reach our goal of 20 thousand dollars and help her have a shot at justice in a system that is already so stacked up against women and children.

(Of course, feel free to chip in with more if you are able!)

Please don’t hesitate to share this fundraiser and help us connect to the larger community.

Simone (and all of Ana's friends)

*name modified to protect her privacy