Help Us Keep Our Family Together!

Ned and Lauren Cauley are the proud father and step-mother of Averie (age 7). Averie is a super cool kid who loves singing and making up her own songs (they’re really good!), magic, decorating for spontaneous parties, and learning “weird-but-true” facts. Averie has split her time between Ashburn and Falls Church, VA her entire life, where her mom and dad lived with their parents when she was born.


 In 2020, Ned and Lauren moved to Averie’s school zone in Ashburn to end Averie’s travel time and ensure that she could have the most stable, family-filled life possible with her blended situation. Pre-pandemic, Ned could be found eating lunch with his 1st grader every Friday, and continues to make the most of his pandemic custody time through creative, intentional, and loving interactions. Last summer, he taught her how to ride a bike, and he often flexes his work schedule to spend 100% of our custody time with Averie.  Lauren can be found supporting Averie by sewing clothes that Averie designs, singing with her all the time, and building her parenting skills as a compassionate, conscious step-parent. 


In March 2021, we were notified that Averie’s mom plans to move Averie to a new school district many hours away.  This change in Averie’s life would be devastating because it would remove her from all three of her extended families, her familiar school, and most of all, reduce the time and involvement she has with us. Even more difficult is the fact that this change comes at the tail end of a global pandemic, where we have all suffered many losses and inconsistencies that create fear and instability. 


Through careful financial planning and saving, Ned and Lauren had the funds available to move to Ashburn and pay for our legal fees up to this point. However, with the emergency threat of Averie moving away, we are suddenly faced with the impending reality of litigation rather than mediation, which is extremely expensive.  Our lawyer has told us to prepare for $30,000 - 40,000  worth of expenses associated.

We want you to know that no amount of financial planning or saving could have prepared us for the financial burden that we are facing to defend our life with Averie. We would not be coming to you if we had any other options. We are taking out personal loans, but we still need your help.

We are so thankful for a community that loves us, and we can't wait to pour back into you once this is over. Our gratitude is immense, but our love is even bigger.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story. We hope you can feel our love for our daughter.

Michelle Savoie, Averie's paternal grandmother, will be helping us manage the GoFundMe page during this busy time as the beneficiary, while we focus on preparing for the court appointment. A big thank you to her for assisting us in this task!

If you are not able to donate at this time, please consider sharing our GoFundMe on your social media, or with communities who have abundance to share. Thank you!