Safe house saving lives
Abigail House aims to offer victims of sex trafficking long-term shelter and care
As co-founder of the Lighthouse Community Center, Martha Brown already knew what it was like to serve those who are trapped in the darkest corners of society.
About two years ago, the Lighthouse Community Center, a non-profit organization that serves the physical and spiritual needs of those in downtown Lynchburg, was contacted by another ministry asking if it had shelter for victims of sex trafficking.
HELP — Abigail House offers temporary shelter for trafficked women. Photo provided
At the time, the Lighthouse did not have a ministry specifically for these victims, Brown said.
“It ended up convicting me,” Brown said.
“I wondered, is there a need for shelter for women in rescue outside of the domestic violence shelter and a regular women’s shelter? Is there really a situation happening where we’ve got sexually trafficked
women here?”
Out of that conviction sprung the Abigail House, a ministry founded by Brown to support young women who are survivors of sex trafficking.
The Abigail House opened in spring of 2015 as a temporary shelter for women in these situations.
Brown, along with professional counselor Josie Olson, plan to expand the Abigail House into a safe house that can provide long-term shelter and therapy to trafficking victims.
“We aren’t currently operational,” Olson said.
“There (are) different layers of services, and we’re currently focused on awareness and education and prevention more than the residential that will come later as funding allows.”
In order to raise funds and promote awareness of the ministry, the Abigail House is hosting the Broken & Beautiful Conference on Oct. 29.
The event, which will be held from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Tree of Life Ministries, is open to women from all walks of life who are interested in becoming involved in the fight against sex trafficking.
The cost of admission is $25, and women can register for the conference online at www.abigail-house.org.
The Broken & Beautiful Conference will feature two guest speakers: Jeanne Allert and Tajuan McCarty.
Allert is the founder of The Samaritan Women, an anti-trafficking organization and safe house in Baltimore, Maryland. McCarty is the founder of The WellHouse, a safe house in Birmingham, Alabama.
At the conference, McCarty hopes to educate women about the realities of trafficking.
“People have a misconception about trafficking,” McCarty said.
“They tend to look at it as the movie “Taken,” which is about 1 percent of what it is. They don’t understand that prostitution, strip clubs and pornography are all trafficking. What God has given me the ability to do is put a face to what actually happens.”
As a survivor of sex trafficking herself, she believes that those who want to become involved in the battle against trafficking need to volunteer by serving the victims themselves.
“If we don’t do hands-on service, I think we’re really missing the point,” McCarty said.
“The Lighthouse, Abigail House and Martha and Josie have all stepped up to the plate and said ‘I’ll do it.’ I’m not sure if it’s craziness or courage.”
The goal of the Broken & Beautiful Conference is not limited to educating women about the issue of
sex trafficking.
“Helping women heal so they can be empowered to help others is another focus of the conference,”
Olson said.
McCarty said every time she tells her story, at least one woman approaches her and confesses her own similar experience.
SAFE PLACE — The Abigail House is aiming to purchase a more permanent home in the near future. Photo provided
She hopes this conference will reach out to women who have dealt with sexual abuse by giving them hope
and healing.
“Every time I speak, everywhere I go, there’s always one or more than come up and say ‘me too,’” McCarty said.
“‘Me too,’ I was sexually abused. ‘Me too,’ I was trafficked and can’t talk about it.”
Brown said she wants this conference to be a space where women can be vulnerable about their struggles and experiences.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re an 18-year-old freshman at Liberty, or an 18-year-old graduating from public school in the lower end of town,” Brown said.
“Abuse is abuse. These women are addressing it, and they’re facing it head-on. And so I applaud them for what they’re doing, and I’m just grateful that we can have a small role in helping this community right here.”
Olson, who is organizing the Broken & Beautiful Conference, is coordinating another conference on Oct. 28 that is geared towards professionals and students in the fields of social work and counseling.
Empowering Survivors of Domestic Sex Trafficking will provide in-depth training from both Allert and McCarty about working with victims.
“This is where they’re going to get into the nitty-gritty of what trauma care looks like,” Olson said.
“This is geared towards professionals, but it’s also geared towards long-term students that want to eventually do this.”
This conference offers a student rate of $50, and students who attend this event can attend the Broken & Beautiful Conference for free.
Olson said she is praying that the Broken & Beautiful Conference will inspire students to take action.
“I don’t think it’s about numbers — it’s about impact,” Olson said. “We really have been praying for whoever the Lord wants to come, whoever is going to be impacted to actually do something and take the information and say, ‘I want to be part of the solution.’”
Covey is a feature reporter.