Lawyer for custody battle

My ex and I made bad choices when my babies were a year old and the state took custody of my now three year old twins. My ex is now sueing me for sole custody of my kids. I have been clean for over a year. I work and pay rent however I do not make enough to cover the cost of hiring a lawyer whom needs 2500.00 up front to help me keep my rights and visitation to my children, and the rest to help pay for my travel costs to court I have only 10 days to come up with this amount. My family is in no position to help and with no credit history I am unable to get a loan. I am asking please help me keep my kids and at least get the joint custody of them at least. Thank you for taking time to read.