Sheltered by Shadows: My Fight to Be Heard
When you're caught in the gears of a system built to protect, but instead it grinds down your dignity—how do you begin to tell that story? I never imagined I'd find myself pleading for fairness in a world that’s supposed to offer it freely. But here I am. My name is Kayla, and I’ve lived through a series of events that shattered my stability, uprooted my child, and left me standing face to face with a justice system that felt anything but just. 🚨 The Threat That Changed Everything It began with an encounter that still lives vividly in my memory: a Delaware County sheriff came to me and said, “If you don’t hand over Acelin, you’ll be arrested.” That moment didn’t feel like protection—it felt like coercion. I was told the Family Case Manager would take my child either way. No due process. No explanation. Just a forced handover of the most precious part of my life. As a mother, my instinct is to fight for my child. But how do you fight back when the threat is handcuffs? I ...