Olivia. Strong, courageous, resilient, beautiful, witty, caring, genuine, funny, intelligent, good-hearted, etc., (in no particular order). Top 3% of her class and in more school clubs and organizations than I ever knew existed.

The other side: sad, miserable, suffering in the hands of people who don’t care. My koala bear wants to come home. All she wants is to be happy and have a good, positive, memorable senior year. She deserves that, and so much more. But she’s not getting that.

And here we are, $27,000 in paid legal fees, with $7,000 more due ASAP. My 22 years of experience get me a tiny bit more than a brand new teacher. My husband is a veteran, went on 2 tours, and was injured in the line of duty. We are a working-class family trying to stay afloat with all these fees, and still trying to provide for all of our children, just because people need control and refuse to put a child’s best interest at heart.

With our court date around the corner, I come to you all to get justice for Olivia. We have exhausted every resource available. We are grateful to those generous family members who sacrificed to give whatever money they could afford. And even though Olivia is 17 years old, she is still unheard by the Texas justice system and those who are appointed to help her. Yes, she will be 18 in May, but our Olivia doesn’t deserve to be sad, miserable, and suffering for the next nine months.

I am begging for help to pay the cost for getting justice for our koala bear. Each and every penny counts. Any dollar amount that can be donated is greatly appreciated. $1 can add up to $2, that can add up to $3, and so forth. I hate asking for help, I always have, and I’m scared they’re going to drop our case even though court is on Monday. But I feel like God is calling me to learn to rely on others and not try to be in control of everything.