[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
A story from a Colorado Legal Services client<\/strong><\/p>\n The names in the following story were altered to protect Colorado Legal Services\u2019 client and her niece\u2019s privacy. <\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Angela, who lives in northern Colorado, was shocked and worried when, in 2022, she learned that her young niece could be in danger.<\/p>\n Her niece, Lilly, was living with her parents\u2014Angela\u2019s brother and his girlfriend\u2014in Tennessee. Both parents had challenges with substance abuse.<\/p>\n Angela, who has long acted as a caretaker and who raised children of her own, quickly reached out to her brother and asked if Lilly could visit Colorado for the summer.<\/p>\n Thankfully, her brother agreed.<\/p>\n When Angela flew to Tennessee to pick Lilly up, she found a 3-year-old with too-tight clothes, two stuffies, one extra outfit, and a tattered backpack.<\/p>\n \u201cI got really emotional,\u201d Angela recalled.<\/p>\n She decided to make the most of their time together.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a great summer,\u201d Angela said. \u201cWe went to the art museum, the aquarium, the science museum, Estes Park\u2014and neither parent contacted me.\u201d<\/p>\n When she started reaching out to Lilly\u2019s mom about extending her stay, Lilly\u2019s mom started sending threatening messages to Angela\u2019s adult daughter. But Angela still couldn\u2019t get ahold of her when she tried to call.<\/p>\n \u201cI started getting the gut feeling that we shouldn\u2019t send her back,\u201d Angela said.<\/p>\n She soon learned that Lilly\u2019s mom had a warrant out for her arrest on drug-related charges, and Angela\u2019s brother had been arrested and was in jail. It felt too dangerous to let Lilly return.<\/p>\n As she began investigating how to keep Lilly with her, she was referred to Colorado Legal Services. Joan Woodbury, managing attorney of the CLS Fort Collins office, helped Angela gain custody of Lilly.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat a wonderful advocate for children\u2014everyone was so kind, so helpful,\u201d Angela said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now Lilly is in the first grade and reading at a 5th<\/sup> grade level. She goes to therapy, she recently won an art contest, and she takes good care of her pets.<\/p>\n \u201cNow she can be her true little self,\u201d Angela said. \u201cShe\u2019s a brilliant artist and a very caring human being. She has empathy for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n Angela said not only does Lilly have a new life, but she also gave Angela renewed purpose in caring for her. Together, they have the chance to thrive.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.coloradolegalservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/CLS_ARTWORK_9.png” alt=”Cls Artwork 9″ title_text=”Cls Artwork 9″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” filter_opacity=”51%” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_divider show_divider=”off” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_testimonial _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” body_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#B7410E” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Now she can be her true little self. She\u2019s a brilliant artist and a very caring human being. She has empathy for everyone.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.coloradolegalservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/CLS_ARTWORK_9.png” alt=”Cls Artwork 9″ title_text=”Cls Artwork 9″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” filter_opacity=”50%” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Angela, que vive en el norte de Colorado, qued\u00f3 conmocionada y preocupada cuando, en 2022, se enter\u00f3 de que su joven sobrina pod\u00eda estar en peligro. Angela, que durante mucho tiempo ha ejercido de cuidadora y ha criado a sus propios hijos, se puso r\u00e1pidamente en contacto con su hermano y le pregunt\u00f3 si Lilly pod\u00eda visitar Colorado durante el verano.<\/p>\n Cuando Angela vol\u00f3 a Tennessee para recoger a Lilly, se encontr\u00f3 a una ni\u00f1a de 3 a\u00f1os con ropa demasiado ajustada, dos peluches, un conjunto extra y una mochila hecha jirones.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"The names in the following story were altered to protect Colorado Legal Services\u2019 client and her niece\u2019s privacy. <\/em>\r\n\r\nAngela, who lives in northern Colorado, was shocked and worried when, in 2022, she learned that her young niece could be in danger.\r\n\r\nHer niece, Lilly, was living with her parents\u2014Angela\u2019s brother and his girlfriend\u2014in Tennessee. Both parents had challenges with substance abuse.\r\n\r\nAngela, who has long acted as a caretaker and who raised children of her own, quickly reached out to her brother and asked if Lilly could visit Colorado for the summer.\r\n\r\nThankfully, her brother agreed.\r\n\r\nWhen Angela flew to Tennessee to pick Lilly up, she found a 3-year-old with too-tight clothes, two stuffies, one extra outfit, and a tattered backpack.\r\n\r\n\u201cI got really emotional,\u201d Angela recalled.\r\n\r\nShe decided to make the most of their time together.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe had a great summer,\u201d Angela said. \u201cWe went to the art museum, the aquarium, the science museum, Estes Park\u2014and neither parent contacted me.\u201d\r\n\r\nWhen she started reaching out to Lilly\u2019s mom about extending her stay, Lilly\u2019s mom started sending threatening messages to Angela\u2019s adult daughter. But Angela still couldn\u2019t get ahold of her when she tried to call.\r\n\r\n\u201cI started getting the gut feeling that we shouldn\u2019t send her back,\u201d Angela said.\r\n\r\nShe soon learned that Lilly\u2019s mom had a warrant out for her arrest on drug-related charges, and Angela\u2019s brother had been arrested and was in jail. It felt too dangerous to let Lilly return.\r\n\r\nAs she began investigating how to keep Lilly with her, she was referred to Colorado Legal Services. Joan Woodbury, managing attorney of the CLS Fort Collins office, helped Angela gain custody of Lilly.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhat a wonderful advocate for children\u2014everyone was so kind, so helpful,\u201d Angela said. \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for Joan and her team, I believe Lilly\u2019s fate would have been filled with violence.\u201d\r\n\r\nNow Lilly is in the first grade and reading at a 5th<\/sup> grade level. She goes to therapy, she recently won an art contest, and she takes good care of her pets.\r\n\r\n\u201cNow she can be her true little self,\u201d Angela said. \u201cShe\u2019s a brilliant artist and a very caring human being. She has empathy for everyone.\u201d\r\n\r\nAngela said not only does Lilly have a new life, but she also gave Angela renewed purpose in caring for her. Together, they have the chance to thrive.","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-client-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coloradolegalservices.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coloradolegalservices.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coloradolegalservices.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coloradolegalservices.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coloradolegalservices.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.coloradolegalservices.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235056\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coloradolegalservices.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coloradolegalservices.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coloradolegalservices.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}