Safety for Josie and Danica

UPDATE: Josie's ex is now pushing for full physical and legal custody of their daughter, wants to force Josie to sell their home, wants Josie to pay child support, and wants to limit Josie's access to their daughter to "restricted and supervised visitation" only. If they ever needed help, it is now! There is a hearing scheduled for June 16th, 2022.

Josie is currently facing an extremely contentious custody battle and divorce against their long-term abuser, so as Josie's partner, myself and a number of their friends (see contributors below) have put together this GoFundMe to help Josie pay for the exorbitant legal fees that come with fighting a custody battle and finalizing a divorce.

 

Josie is a kind and compassionate parent and partner that has been dealt a hard hand in life. Besides experiencing significant traumas, Josie is multiply marginalized as a disabled, queer, agender, neurodivergent human, and single parent, among other things. They have had to distance themselves from their nuclear family for their mental and emotional safety, but have built a wonderful community around them for support. However, they have limited financial assistance to sustain a lengthy and involved legal battle for sole custody of their child and being disabled, Josie is unable to work much to contribute to costs.

 

It is not only Josie's wish to have sole custody of their child, Danica, but is Danica's wish as well. Danica has made it abundantly clear to a variety of people that they not only want, but need Josie to have full legal and physical custody. Josie's ex adopted Danica at 3 years of age, but has not been a consistent part of her life at any stage. Josie has always been the primary parent and Danica experiences significant discomfort in the presence of Josie's ex. Although Danica has been transparent about their need for Josie to have custody with their therapist and those around them whom they trust, she is too young for the court to take her desires into much consideration.

 

Prior to the onset of this legal dispute, Josie was a heavily involved intersectional advocate in disabled community. They created a safe space for disabled people and their partners to learn about, get in touch with, and express their sexuality as well as find camaraderie. The current situation has prevented them from continuing this work as it is being demonized by the opposing party. The network of people that Josie brought together is especially important among marginalized and oppressed people as so much of the world is a scary and unsafe place for them. Please show Josie you value their presence and help them and Danica fight for their safety and freedom! Our goal of $25,000 is their lawyer’s projection based on the length of time and amount of work still left to get them to the end of their case.

 

A special thank you to Upgrade Accessibility, Amy Rae Miller, Almond Linden, Summer Bloyer, Hebi, Sasha M, Katherine Harlow, Cassandra Calhoun, Kristin Pankiw, Madison Lee, Catie Kvalheim, the Ward family, and others for your assistance with this GoFundMe campaign and love for Josie and Danica.