don't even know where to start!

Christmas was uneventful(as far as the negative goes) and we all had fun. Things were going to be pretty lame, I'm talking 20$ per child lame, due to a very rough roofing season, but then my Mother surprised me with a cash gift on the 20th and i went & spent it all on the kids, (we had already bought Doug a laptop for Birthday/Christmas)and got Yogi a Kindle. Kristin even got her tiny laptop to take to Costa Rica. A good time was had by all, and I even managed to buy myself a book I had been wanting for a couple years, so i wrapped it so I'd have something to open on Christmas morning. We spent EVE at my parent's house, Mom held up really well with all the company. She got me the softest set of sheets I've ever felt! The 2 little ones got a great V smile set-up and some more games. Great food! All the kids had fun, Uncle Tim stayed home to rest, it had been a long, cold hard day on the roof. Then Kristin did a bunch of overnight wrapping for me. The morning was fun, Santa was well received! Jackson's behavior was stellar, although he never uttered a thank you to anyone, he thinks we all just owe him the world. $200 Celtics tickets didn't even get to him(Yogi had bought them over the summer and saved them).

Then it got ugly. Long story short, Courtney started hanging around with her 22 year old, jobless, carless friend Lauren who has an almost 4 year old son and a brand new baby daughter. she stopped coming home, quit school right before finals and was pretty much just living with lauren, having fun and helping her raise her kids. She also was being used for her vehicle and was suddenly everyone's best friend. she kept in touch though, kept working atleast, came back & forth to get clothes and i let her parents know about the changes. week 3 of this arrangement, Lauren stole Courtney's keys and wallet and took off in Courtney's truck, (Court was in the bathroom and assumed Lauren was running out to get baby formula)crossed the NH/MA state line and hit a pole, a parked car, a wall and a house with the truck, totalling it. she fled the scene, is still missing, her babies are in state care and allll the bills are Courtney's responsibility. $2,500 to the impound yard alone. the home owners will sue, the car owner will sue........ NONE of this is the responsibility of the girl who took the truck. She is hiding out at her Mom's house here in NH and neither police dept. wants to go arrest her. The mother of this girl got her from MA back to NH, has repeatedly stopped by Lauren's apartment to retrieve clothing and other items, is totally aiding and abetting a fugitive, the neighbors have seen this and reported it to police, yet nothing happens. The truck's cab is full of blood, the owner of the home that was hit by the truck reports that the girl was covered in blood when she fled the scene, yet nobody seems worried that this LACTATING young Mother could be severely injured and need medical care or that she should be picked up. DCYF needs information about the children, the baby can't nurse and NOBODY CARES. Courtney's debit card was used also, $200 at a liquor store in MA. Another 200$ was in her wallet, she had cashed her check instead of making a deposit because having a checking account was NOT going well and she had incurred $220.00 in overdraft fees in the weeks prior, regardless how many times we went over the rules of banking with her and Yogi kept transfering money from his account to hers to cover her negative balances. We were about to close the account, she was in the negative again, yet the bank STILL let this girl USE the card at the liquor store. So at this point, Courtney has NO car, NO school and just lost her job at Target because the holidays are over. The truck needed a ton of work and wasn't going to pass inspection in May anyway, but for the moment it was getting her around. she owned it for a month and her Father bought it with the last thousand dollars he had(he's been out of work for over a year and lost his home. he and his disabled wife live in Maine in a borrowed house. part of the thousand was borrowed as well) so their lives STINK. Kris is here until the 7th, so Courtney is on the couch, nowhere to put her stuff.. i wish someone would jump in to give us a hand. We try hard, we work hard(yogi is roofing in 25mph winds, 12* this entire week. the man isnt lazy!)but we cannot add on a room or buy a kid a car! Who can i call? This kid is homeless & indigent, yet the impound yard says that after 5 days, she will be arrested for not paying the fees.(you can bet the police will pick her up right away too! a 17 year old, homeless kid!), her parents are homeless, we need help. My sister also has a homeless teenager living with her. Nobody can help and the kid had been sleeping outdoors. My sister has empty bedrooms though. I don't!

interesting development: last night I was telling Courtney "Don't you worry, the cops want to stay in their comfy, warm car, be lazy and not arrest this girl? Wait until the DCYF office gets on their asses! They need information about these childrens' case and need to take the Mother into court for a hearing due to the abandonment and living conditions."

Then, just as I was writing this post, DCYF called Courtney. The intake worker is LIVID that the cops know where this girl is hiding out but refuse to go arrest her and had even said "Eh, she'll be arrested eventually. she could be 50 by the time she gets caught!" they just DON'T CARE. DCYF said "she will be arrested by the end of today!" So... maybe some progress. I wish I could do something. I feel so bad for that barely 5 week old baby :( she had a terrible diaper rash and hadn't been bathed, and had an eye infection. Courtney had been with her folks for a few days over the holiday before this happened, so she wasn't caring for them I guess. The house had no diapers, wipes or formula either. They built a case against this girl so fast.. it's scary. According to neighbors, the Mom "went crazy" when the older child was a few weeks old too, and ended up in re-hab, so this could be a case of post partum psychosis/depression, i suppose. The timing is right, and nursing Mothers are more at risk(I've read that, anyway). Its just so sad, all around.

Anyway, that's our week, in a nutshell. We all have a cold, a 5 day roof has taken 2 solid weeks due to the weather(snow, rain, wind and extremely low temperatures) but we are all safe, happy and in a warm house. We have food, clean laundry and hot water. So many people need our help right now. I wish we could do more!

What can YOU do for a needy family in your area? :)