Hi there to all reading this… I tried to avoid having to create one of these at all, but I’m humbling myself to reach out to our community for help, as my kids deserve it. Five and a half years ago, my family was completely shaken up by the unfortunate happenstance of addiction. Our once strong provider and hero found himself addicted to substances, and it forced me to leave with my children in order to protect them from seeing their dad in that unfortunate position. It has been 5 1/2 long years since making that decision. At the time, I was a stay-at-home mom, homemaker, and fully homeschooled my children. I was thrust into a completely new position with no recent work experience, no savings, practically no credit, and only the clothes we could pack. I had attempted to make a life for us in California to be close to our support system, but with the jobs that were available to me, it became clear that I would not be able to give my children a life worth living in California – it was way too expensive. Therefore, I began to look at states we could relocate to that would allow us to have a life where we could thrive and start over. It soon became clear that Idaho would be our new safe haven. We packed the clothes we had, and my dad followed us in his car, as we embarked on a new journey, in a new state with a hope and a prayer that God would make gardens out of graves. For the first night in our new home, I had to push piles of clothes together to make beds for the kids and me. We accumulated furniture and items for our house little by little, and soon we found ourselves in a home. And our God has been so faithful and has blessed us every step of the journey. Please make no mistake. It has been extremely difficult trying to navigate this new role, and I thought with passing time I would acclimate and it would get less and less difficult. But as you know, with great blessings also come great responsibility, and life constantly presents new challenges that we must learn to adjust to. Fortunately, in the beginning, we were able to get by financially with the help of my father, but it became ever so obvious that I would need to find a career that could sustain us and remove that pressure from my father, who is limited in his resources (he would be homeless before he ever let something happen to us). I consider myself rich and do not want for anything other than the health, safety, and ability for my children to thrive. However, what should have been a case and point proceeding for custody is now going to be a battle that will ensue on March 12. Up until this point, I have been able to juggle the financial burdens that have come along with being a sole single parent, provider, protector, and nurturer all in one. Yet, due to these new legal circumstances that I am facing in regard to custody, I find myself drowning in the financial pressure. I have been the sole caretaker of my children for the last 5 1/2 years with practically no help from their father. I delivered our fourth son without him at the hospital and have watched him grow with little involvement from his father. He moved up to Idaho in an attempt to be closer to the children, and the intention was to be a good influence and repair his relationship with them. Unfortunately, he has still been unable to right the ship and draw a sober breath for longer than a few weeks, which presents a problem in regard to custody and visitation of our children. I have worked extremely hard to shelter and shield them from his substance abuse because I know how heartbreaking it has been for me to witness, and I will do anything to save them from that heartbreak. Initially, he was going to agree to the terms set forth, and we were putting plans in place for him to slowly but surely earn back his time with his children. Let me be frank, if he were in a good place, I would happily welcome the help. I am extremely tired, and unless you have been a single mother where all the financial responsibility, protection, security, and comfort come from you – it is very hard to fathom the weight of the situation I am in. I would love for him to be in a place where he could take the kids every other weekend, help with pick up or drop off, taking them to their jiu-jitsu classes, or anything else that would take some of the load off my plate. In addition, my children need their father, but this current version of him would do more damage than good. Sadly, he is not in a safe position where I trust him to be alone with our children, and now he seeks to go to war on March 12 and fight for custody, attempting to prove that I am an unfit mother. If you know me, you know the kind of human I am, the way I pour into my community, the way I pour into my friends and family, the way I show up at work and pour into my clients, and the way that I tirelessly love and attempt to lead and help my children. It pains me to say that I do not have the finances to go to this war, and I am terrified for the outcome, as his parents do have the finances and are funding the new counsel that he has obtained. I am humbly turning to you, our village, our community… Those of you that have witnessed this whole journey and have seen me fight relentlessly to do the right thing and to make a life for these incredible human beings that God entrusted me with. I cannot fathom the idea of him getting any sort of custody outside of supervised visitation during this time. I will do whatever is necessary to make sure my children are protected and safe. Thank goodness for my job, as I will be able to build up the financial security to sustain the children for the future (eventually), but I simply do not have the proper financial resources to combat this problem alone. If you find it in your heart, please help so that I can continue to give my children the life they deserve: free from substance abuse, emotional volatility, and toxicity. I have an amazing attorney who is fiercely protective and working tirelessly for us, but it is not free, and I cannot continue to let the bill increase without paying her. In total, I am asking for $6000 to handle the current balance and pay for the remaining work that will need to be done. If you have made it this far - thank you❤️ and if you are unable to give, please cover my family and me in prayer and declare God's provision over us. I am constantly thankful for all of you and cannot express my gratitude properly for all you have done for us up until this point. I see the finish line, and I know with your help we can reach it.

All our love,

Jacqueline, Malachi, Nora, Elijah, and Ezekiel