This is about a little boy who found love and a mom in the most unlikely of places. Kristin loves kids, but having a child was never in the cards for her. She had her nieces and God daughter, and that was enough for her. She is passionate about animals, she rescues and donates to their causes. In 2012, Kristin met her boyfriend and she was happy.
In 2016, Kristin and her boyfriend found out about a little 4 year old boy, unbeknownst to them, her boyfriend had fathered right before they got together. This little boy’s name is Jayden. Jayden came into their lives through the Department of Child Services.
In 2012, at birth Jayden was taken by CPS when he was born with drugs in his system and later returned to the biological mother.
In 2014, at the age of 2, Jayden’s biological mother was arrested at a park by an off duty police officer for child abuse and drug possession. Jayden was again taken by CPS and placed in a fifth wheeler off of Boulder Hwy behind Arizona Charlie’s where he lived until he was 4 years old.
In 2016, Kristin and her boyfriend fought for nearly a year to bring his son home. In 2017, Kristin’s boyfriend was awarded sole legal and physical custody. Having been cooped up in a fifth wheel for 2 years, Jayden’s gross motor skills weren’t properly developed. Also as a result of drinking, smoking and doing drugs while Jayden was in vitro, it caused a lot of speech delays and sensory issues. Jayden was behind his peers with regard to both his mental and physical health. He also had an extremely hard time expressing himself. Being speech delayed, his main way of communicating was through screaming and crying.
Believing in Jayden, with faith and the vision of what he could become, Kristin went to work. Kristin took charge and started on an unknown journey in hopes to create a safe, stable, and nurturing environment for Jayden. She scaled back her travels for work to dedicate herself to Jayden’s well-being.
Unfortunately Kristin’s boyfriend chose to leave her in 2019, but knowing that she would be the best parent for his son, he signed over temporary guardianship to her. The next 2 years were filled with therapy, education, patience by the buckets, and most importantly, love. Kristin and Jayden are remarkably close, they are a team. They also have a unified family and a small group of friends that completely support their journey. In broken families, non-biological parents, mental and physical health are involved not everyone understands the who, why and what of the journey.
Anyone that has had the pleasure of meeting Jayden would agree that he is the most caring, loving and giving 8-year-old. He has an infectiously happy personality and has a special way of making a stranger his friend. His previous environment caused plenty of damage but with the help of his amazing therapists and teacher that have willingly worked with Kristin he has made great progress overcoming his challenges. Kristin loves him unconditionally and he deserves the best. She is committed to providing Jayden with a safe, loving environment despite his biological mom’s continuous hostility to get him back.
We know, based on experience, that Jayden’s biological mother is not a safe option for him, nor is she fit to take care of him. She not only has the child abuse case in her past, she was arrested twice for domestic violence, though charges were dropped. In the last 2 years the biological mom has only visited with Jayden 17 times.
Fast forward to 2020, after 6 years of Jayden being out of the biological mom’s care, she has decided to pursue legal action to get Jayden back. Jayden loves Kristin. Kristin is his best friend, his mom, and the only stable environment he has ever known.
Remaining in Kristin’s care would be the best decision for him. He does not need to regress and go through these hard times with his biological mother.
Every child deserves to be unconditionally loved, and most of all, every child deserves a childhood without the constant worry that someone can neglect or abandon them at any time. Even though Jayden has been removed from his mother by Child Protective Services twice, she is fighting to have him returned to her. Kristin is currently fighting two court hearings right now over Jayden. A guardianship hearing, as well as a custody hearing.
The cost of attorney fees have been crippling for Kristin. Despite all of Kristin’s hard work and love she put into raising Jayden, the Judge says the case is very complex with a lot of layers. Kristin has no blood relation to Jayden but the natural father has nominated Kristin to be guardian. Guardianship hearing is set for an evidentiary hearing on 3/8. The custody hearing, where the biological mother will argue she has the basic right to raise her child, will be 1/19. The cost of keeping Jayden safe has become extremely expensive.
For the past several years, Kristin has supported Jayden on her own. She has received no financial assistance from the biological mom. The cost of raising a child alone on a single income is expensive. The current Covid situation makes earning a steady income difficult; but now on top of that she has attorney fees for two separate court battles. It’s a tough situation for a single parent to handle that on their own.
For this reason, we are asking for donations from everyone that wants to help. Any extra funding not used in Jayden’s court cases and care will be donated to another family in need.
Kristin loves Jayden as much as any biological parent would love their own and he is happily safe and excelling in school. Kristin is Jayden’s favorite person in all the world. He calls her mom. She stepped up when everyone stepped out. Kristin would love nothing but to be able to continue to provide him with the love and resources he needs. She has no biological children and is doing this out of love and a calling to ensure Jayden's wellbeing and safety. Their experience has been at times a trying one but the rewards that it brings to one another's hearts are enormous.
Thank you in advance for your help in keeping Jayden where he is, safe, thriving and happy.
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Originally Posted by pagelpoker
