stop your cryin', hold on tonight

Let me tell you about the event, A Fighting Chance. Or, rather, let me tell you what the creator in crisis said about it:

6 weeks ago I took one of the biggest steps of my life and filed a domestic violence restraining order against the father of my child. He was removed from our home and my child and I started rebuilding our lives. Since that removal, my now-ex has harassed me repeatedly and is retaliating by trying to take my child away because I finally filed for permanent, full custody.

Unfortunately, at this time, I do not qualify for assistance from Legal Aid.

I have contacted my local bar association and found an attorney willing to take on my case at a significantly reduced cost — nearly close to pro bono. However, I still cannot afford this vital assistance. I’ve reached out to shelters, local charities, and the Domestic Violence Resource Center in the hopes of being put in touch with a lawyer willing to help me free of charge and was unsuccessful. My only choice at this point is to pay to defend my custody petition if I want to ensure my son stays safe with me.

My prospective lawyer has given me a quote of $1800-$1900 for a custody case billed out at his reduced rate, to be paid as a retainer. They do not anticipate it costing more than this and if so, once the retainer is depleted, they will work with me on a payment plan suitable to my SSDI payments. They require the retainer upfront.

My child’s father has an attorney and they have mailed me their response to the custody petition I filed. My prospective attorney will begin work on the custody case ASAP, once his retainer fee has been satisfied. Currently there is no hearing set yet, but that can change rather suddenly and without notice.

I am scared. My 12 y/o child who is autistic is also terrified.

We need help--your help.

Now, I can say the creator behind Funky Junk (and that link goes to her Marketplace, because before all this went down, she'd closed the in-world store to move to a new sim) is not only a really talented builder of skyboxen, cottages, and other structures, but is also generous beyond belief--several of her very detailed builds I've bought on Fifty Linden Friday rounds, and she could easily charge six times the cost I paid for those homes, without raising an eyebrow on anyone. She's also a genuinely kind person, and is devoted to making sure her customers are satisfied with any purchase. Which makes this all the more horrifying, and it starts out fairly horrifying.

Hence, "A Fighting Chance", the charity event. Port in, and you can give to a direct kiosk, or peruse the offerings of other creators in support of her efforts. Or, you can choose to go to her Gofundme page, where she's desperately trying to generate funds to hire a lawyer.

It is a sad fact of reality that many of these cases result in the abusers trying to seize the children from the parent, because they know that will hurt them most. And most of these cases succeed, especially if said parent was a stay-at-home one, and, when they left the main wage earner of the family, can be logistically portrayed as having no visible means of support. It's awful, it's deeply wrong, and it's sadly commonplace.

I would ask you to give what you can. And I wish her all the best. I hope she and her son get through this, safe, together, and not homeless.