A North Carolina mom got her kids taken away from her after she asked for them to be sheltered on Craigslist.
Moshimalee Johnson first went to the Durham Department of Social Services for housing assistance for her and her five children, only to be told they couldn’t help her, the News & Observer reports.
So she used Craigslist to find shelter for her children.
“I am currently homeless and looking for someone to take my five kids until I can find a job and a place to live,” Johnson’s July 9 ad said. “I called DSS and they won’t take them. The shelter has a waiting list and [Durham Rescue Mission] won’t let you work if you come there. I am a certified nursing assistant but can’t find work due to numerous doctor’s appointments because my 6-year-old accidentally hung himself. Please help anyone.”
Two days later, the DDS’s child protective services took away her kids and put them into foster care.
“Maybe I didn’t make myself clear,” Johnson said. “I didn’t want to give the kids up. I wanted a place for me and my kids.”
A social worker told Johnson that it was “inappropriate” to put that ad on Craigslist because a “murderer or child molester could have come asking about them.”
Johnson, who is eight months pregnant, lost her job in 2013 after having her minivan break down and being late to work because of the bus, according to the New York Daily News. Her intent was to find a housing situation where she could take her kids to their various appointments and have a third person watch them when she worked at night.
There is a father that helps, but according to Johnson, he’s not financially capable of supporting their kids.
Johnson hopes to be reunited with her children once she finds a stable job and a place to live.