Hello everyone, it is with a heavy heart that I have to ask, but if any of you are able to help, I beg of you to please do so.

A lot of you don't know what's been going on with me, so let me sum it up as best I can. On May 5th, 2023, I became the father of a beautiful, perfectly healthy new baby boy. His name is Elijah Warren Phillips. His mother's blood tested positive for her prescription medications and THC. Since she and her ex have had past dealings with DHR (Department of Human Resources), they used this as a reason to take him from her and, by extension, me as well. He was a week old, and I never even got to bring him home from the hospital.

I have been fighting for over 2 years, doing everything asked of me: drug testing (never a positive test), parenting classes, psychological evaluations (both twice), anger management, counseling separate from the mother (done), and suitable housing. I have a very nice 2 bed, 2 bath apartment where his room is already set up for him. I maintain employment; I'm working at the Mercedes-Benz manufacturing plant in Vance, AL, and have been for 2 years.

All the while, DHR has been dropping the ball, not doing their job, prolonging the case, and turning it all around in court to make it look like his mother or I am at fault for things not being done. They just kept telling me, "Keep doing what you're doing. You're doing what you need to be doing," while making it appear differently to the judge. This made the judge decide that DHR needed to file a motion for TPR (termination of parental rights).

The attorney I started with and had for the majority of the case would do nothing to fight for me. So, I got a new one. I had to get help to get a loan for the retainer, which went into a trust account that is supposed to maintain a minimum balance of $2,000.

This brings me to the reason I'm needing help. I've done everything I can do to keep this minimum balance requirement met, including taking out a loan on my 401k for the last payment I'm able to make to meet the minimum balance. With this being done, I have no way to come up with any more money. They've cut our hours at work and won't let me get any more overtime like I've been doing all year.

My case is set for trial on December 9th, and I don't know what to do other than to ask if any of you are able to help.