My name is Denise Tuff and I am here to raise money to help Nell bring her baby home.
In January of 2016, after losing her job, Nell found herself struggling to maintain bills and keep food on the table for herself and her daughter. She was also helping a pregnant friend who was placed on an early bedrest at the time, and living in their home as she refused to see her on the street. Nell was getting help from her family, however, it wasn’t enough to support all of them. She knew the father of her child and his family would be able to assist, but only on their terms. Terms being, they would watch the baby in their home state of South Carolina. Nell was reluctant to do so being she resides in the state of Georgia. She however, made a very conscious and selfless decision, to put pride aside and reach out.
After getting things back on track in March, Nell reached out to her daughter's father for the child to come home. The father begged for the child to stay, telling Nell he was out of school and wanted to spend time with his daughter. He also informed Nell he was in the Air Force and most weekends the child was there, she was with his family so this gave him the time he wanted. Nell felt bad and would never want the two of them to not have the chance to bond, so the parents mutually agreed, the baby could stay until the end of April.
The end of April came and Nell reached out asking when and where dad would like to meet so that her daughter could come home. He began to yell and scream saying things like “no she is not going home”, “you’ll never let us see her again”. Nell was so confused because since her daughter was born, she never kept him or his family away from her. She even offered for her to be with him for the summers and holidays. Nell tried everything to calm him down and reason with him. He then threatened to take Nell to court for custody of their daughter. Nell begged him not to do that for their daughter’s sake. He refused to listen. A week later, after countless arguments, he begged for her to stay until the end of July and he would return her home with no problems. To keep peace, Nell agreed.
She reached out to him July 15th to make sure they were on the same page. She told him she wanted to pick their daughter up July 31st, so she would have enough time to get ready for school. On July 29th, Nell receive a summons to court for him to receive custody over their daughter.
Since receiving the official summons, the parents have attended a motion hearing and the father was awarded temporary custody due to the time period their daughter has been there. Nell is so heartbroken and feels like the biggest piece of her is missing. She honestly thought she was doing the right thing by allowing her daughter time with her dad. He has admitted to Nell, that he asked for her to stay until the end of July to file the papers. He has completely blindsided Nell and she honestly doesn’t know the reason why as she thought they were doing good co-parenting. She is mostly hurt at his actions.
She is ever so grateful for the love they hold for her daughter but she needs to be with her mother. He does have an attorney and Nell believes had she had an attorney for the motion hearing to present the right evidence in the correct form, the judge would have ordered the child to return home with her.
Nell wants her daughter home and is willing to do anything to get her back. She needs to raise a total amount of $9,700. Funds will go toward her attorney fees and all court fees. Every contribution, every gift helps. If you can give $100, $50, $10, $5, if you can give more or less, each gift gets Nell closer to her daughter.
While this is a specific story about Nell and her daughter, this is also a story about every woman who is both struggling to do the right thing without the resources to protect herself and her children. The father took advantage of his knowledge of how the system works - he knew, for example, that he had to have his daughter with him for 6 months before he could file for custody - and he knew he had money for an attorney and would have the upper hand in any court. Without good information, without resources, and committed to the best for her daughter, Nell became legally vulnerable without even knowing it. We live in a system where those with money have more rights than those without. We live in a system where women are too often vulnerable to those with more power. Nell is determined to overcome this too familiar story and she needs our help to do it.
