My name is Jessica Walgren and I escaped a Domestic Violence situation in Nov. 2024, breaking up with the father of my boys largely for economic abuse and neglect, as well as every other type of abuse towards the kids, pets, or myself. I was a stay at home mom, doing 90% of the domestic labor alone for 60-90 hours a week while their dad would go to his job and be gone 15 hours a day. Upon the breakup, he moved out (as the sole income) with no warning within a week, and refused to financially support us. He left us with a broken fridge, broken dryer, no renters or car insurance, various bills, as well as running out of firewood for the wood stove, the main heat source. We were living remotely then, at least half an hour to any store or resources beyond monthly food bank. We would have gone hungry if it wasn’t for the fact 2/3 kids ate at school, and we qualified for food stamps/TANF, as well as family and friends. I received a DV grant to assist with relocation expenses and bills.

Since then, I have moved back in with my parents, and have been working 5 nights a week as a delivery driver to keep bills paid myself. The routines we used to have are gone now. They used to love to go to bed and would be asleep in ten minutes with a story, now it’s an all out brawl on the maybe two nights a week I’m there to do it. The entirety of the last 6 months has been spent in a custody battle with my boys’ father. He’s currently overstepping his rights until I have the funds to get a lawyer and have equal representation to fight for my kids.

I have been the one that has been there since day one, the anchor holding them steady in the tempestuous seas of their lives. Clay was born at 28 weeks (2020) and I was with him 12+ hours each day in the NICU for 76 days making sure he came home, while dad went to work and showed up on weekends. I watched teams of professionals work tirelessly day after day to keep breath in his lungs, watched him heal brain bleeds, learn to eat, and light up as well as soothe at the sound of my voice, humming and touch. The hospital covered my food and pumping needs or I would have gone hungry or had to ask family even more than I did already, as he was not supporting me financially. When Cillian was born (2022), we spent two weeks in the NICU, of which his dad was present for two nights, and again, didn’t financially support me. I also had no car available to me, so I was doing miles of walking each day right after being discharged from the hospital each time.

The fight to protect my kids from things I can’t write here, continues- now with the help of the court system as the years of economic abuse have given him a financial hand up while dealing with this drawn out custody battle. I need help getting lawyer money together to keep fighting to protect my cubs the way I’ve had to their whole lives. Please help my boys stay with their mom, they’re being kept from me despite no order in effect to grant him rights to do so.