In the early stages of motherhood, Tatiana Marie would often lay awake at night, plagued by a continuous cycle of piercing and exhausting thoughts (for privacy, we’re not using Tatiana’s last name). Stop your child from crying , her thoughts said to her. Stop your child from doing this, stop your child from doing that. And, sometimes: No, you don’t want your child no more .

Tatiana, 32, was in a precarious situation, unemployed and living in extended-stay motels with her two young children. She tried getting rental and housing assistance, calling phone numbers from pamphlets in her doctor’s office and various nonprofit organizations such as the Salvation Army. Time and again, she was told she did not qualify for aid.

“I’ve had shelters tell me that they don’t take non-dire situatio

See Full Page