Gracehaven: The Saving Grace

Imagine this: A young girl, born to a young woman deeply engaged in prostitution. As most young children do, she learns how to behave by the example of her parents. The problem being her father is deceased and her mother is a prostitute with severe mental illness. Her life is in complete disarray; she is taken from her mother and put into foster care. She is shuffled from foster home to foster home, abused and neglected. Until one day when she believes that she has found a ‘happy home’. What she doesn’t know is that this so-called happy home is her worst nightmares come true. Years later, after being beaten and broken, she finds her saving grace—Gracehaven. Finally, there were people willing to listen and lovingly understand, to help her try to gain some control over her own life, to obtain independence and meet her most basic of needs—all with the power of God’s grace and love.

This story is all too common throughout the youth of the United States. What is unfortunate is that many in our country do not realize this. We turn a blind eye to the prostitutes walking the streets, think little of them and judge them harshly, chalk it up to “they have a drug problem” or “they’re sluts”. We should ask ourselves how this happened. According to R.J. Estes, “The average age of entry into prostitution is twelve years old.” What we fail to do as a nation is become more aware of our surroundings and goings-on. In the U.S. there are only three operating shelters which facilitate healing programming for minors who have been sexually human trafficked. Gracehaven in Columbus, Ohio will be opening the fourth in 2010.

In Ohio alone, within the past two years, there have been six major cases of sexual human trafficking documented in the news. Out of those six cases, three of them occurred in Columbus, under our very noses. In September 2008, a man and woman from the Columbus area were charged with transporting women across state lines to engage in prostitution. One victim told officials that her mother had been selling her to the man arrested and charged since she was fourteen years old (gracehavenhouse.org).

It is probable that others would agree that this is a horrendous way to start life; to be tortured in such a way and really not even knowing that this isn’t how the normal childhood is. It is a growing trend so to speak that is coming to the light in recent years. The fact that there are only three operating minor sexual human trafficking programs in operation in the United States is reprehensible. Thank the Lord that there are advocates for these young victims and for Gracehaven

Gracehaven, founded in 2008, was created for the purpose of addressing the need for residential rehabilitation programs for victims of domestic minor sex trafficking. Human trafficking happens all over the world and is usually thought of to primarily occur in Asian countries, but it also happens here in Central Ohio, as well as all across the United States. According to Katie Talbott, “The latest estimate of domestic human trafficking victims in the U.S. each year is one hundred thousand. Gracehaven estimates that upwards of three hundred thousand children are at risk for sexual exploitation.” Of the one hundred thousand, there are only thirty-nine beds (in three shelters) in the United States that are equipped to help victims recover and heal. With only thirty-nine beds available and one hundred thousand victims, there is a huge need for non-profit organizations like Gracehaven.

Gracehaven’s mission statement is to:
“seek through Christian love to provide shelter and rehabilitation to girls under the age of eighteen who have been victims of commercial sexual exploitation, and to raise awareness among young women about the issue of domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) in order to educate and equip them so that they can avoid becoming victims themselves” (gracehavenhouse.org).

Funding is a major component when operating a non-profit organization. Primarily, the funding for Gracehaven is private donations. As a group home, they will be eligible for state funding from Children’s Services once they open this coming summer and begin housing girls. As with all non-profit organizations, funding is certainly an issue and that of course is a problem when up until the opening of the shelter Gracehaven is privately funded. After speaking with Bev DeLashmutt, Board Chair of Gracehaven, she enlightened me to some steps that they have put in place in order to address their funding issues. Mrs. DeLashmutt indicates, “We have hired a professional fundraiser to help with events to fund the renovation of the home we have purchased. We are networking with other organizations for support. Dr. Jeff Barrows, who is on national boards, is also networking with colleagues on those boards.” Gracehaven are members of the Central Ohio Rescue & Restore Coalition (CORRC) and the Christian Trafficking Shelter Association (CTSA) in which they also network for resources and funding availability.
Gracehaven has two priorities: provide a safe home with hope and healing to victims of domestic minor sex trafficking and to raise awareness so that young ladies can avoid becoming victims themselves. The shelter will be operated by paid, qualified staff members. Awareness events are staffed between paid staff and volunteers, the majority being volunteers. Dr. Jeff Barrows and Theresa Flores (a former child victim of sexual human trafficking), both paid, speak extensively across the United States on the issue of sexual human trafficking.

The organizational structure of Gracehaven seems quite common: Dr. Jeff Barrows leads as Executive Director, Theresa Flores heads up as Director of Awareness and Training, Bev DeLashmutt sits as Board Chair leading a board of unpaid members for decision making, an Advisory Board, and licensed social workers on staff. Gracehaven is in the process of developing programming and acquiring experienced staff members. The programming will involve education, counseling, life skill development and access to Christian support.

Gracehaven is a member of the Central Ohio Rescue and Restore Coalition which consists of social service agencies, law enforcement, prosecutors, educators, law makers and concerned citizens like me. They work closely with the Salvation Army and CORRC’s human trafficking hotline. Gracehaven is also communicating with juvenile detention centers, schools and police departments to be able to identify victims and provide adequate services.

The goal of Gracehaven is to provide long-term residential rehabilitation to victims of domestic minor sexual human trafficking until they reach the age of eighteen. The program is entirely voluntary on the part of the young ladies. Currently, training is being offered to foster care parents and other providers to ensure healthy placement when the young women are ready to move on from the Gracehaven shelter into a more stable family environment.

Currently, the renovation of the Gracehaven house is a major goal being worked towards. It is necessary to renovate the home that was purchased in order to bring it up to code standards for a group home. Program development is also being worked on for the up-coming opening.

Another goal of Gracehaven is to bring awareness. There has been major advancements in connecting with and speaking in Columbus school districts, rotary clubs, Girl Scout troops and churches. Theresa Flores travels and speaks on her personal experiences to groups, radio programs, newspapers, magazines and makes television appearances. A huge awareness/fundraising event is coming up on May 22, 2010 called “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” which will take place for the second year near Westerville at Xenos Christian Fellowship.

“Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” is a powerful event, and one Gracehaven has chosen to make an annual event. Male participants walk a full mile in high heel shoes to make a statement that a life being trafficked and prostituted is no easy life. Greg Jackson, a brother in my home church, took part in last year’s walk and I wanted to know how he felt about it overall. Greg said, “It was an easy way to reach out and help someone, to serve people. It was profoundly easy to raise money for Gracehaven and their cause. I just hung up a paper at work and sent out an email about human trafficking, money started to pour in.” Greg has a real heart for this cause after recently learning about it himself. He says, “The real problem is not that people don’t think it’s NOT bad, but that people don’t know about it at all.”

Although the Gracehaven house is not yet open, that does not mean that the organization has been sitting on the sidelines waiting for funding to make things happen. They have been in contact with five victims thus far. Katie Talbott says, “We estimate that we’ve reached two million people across the country and one million in Ohio through our awareness building and public speaking.” The fact that people are talking about the subject matter of domestic human trafficking and are getting the word out to these young women who have already contacted Gracehaven is amazing. I wanted to know what being a part of Gracehaven had taught Bev DeLashmutt in her own life, the impact it has had on her. Bev soberly said, “I learned to overcome fears: fear of meeting pimps, girls on the street, and the fear of inviting them into my own home. Overcoming these fears though has opened my heart tremendously.”

My personal experience in working with Gracehaven has impacted me on a level that I did not know that I had. The emotional response to learning about the ugly truth regarding sexual slavery was completely profound. Being a part of Xenos Christian Fellowship and, even more finite, a part of Bev and Gary DeLashmutt’s home church, I have been brought such awareness in the past year. Since becoming aware and taking a stance to advocate for them, I have befriended Tiffany. It has been such a joy to watch her blossom under the loving Christian care of Gracehaven.

By no means is it an easy thing to do: to approach young women on the street, to befriend a victim who thinks that you are just out to exploit her, to convince others that there is a real need or that domestic sexual human trafficking (adult and minor) even exists. Gracehaven has a strong case though. Gracehaven employs a strong staff and crew of volunteers that pound the pavement just as much as the young women who are being sold into prostitution. Their only weakness is that they have no model to follow; they’re ground-breaking as far as the type of programming they wish to offer. I cannot express how much I support Gracehaven’s work and what they are doing for these exploited young girls and women. No girl would ever truly wish to be a prostitute when they grew up, or even before then. The difference that this organization is making in the Central Ohio area and across the country is vastly profound. The passion that it brings into people’s lives once they become educated about sexual human trafficking is nearly breathtaking. I am not only involved with Gracehaven in regard to sexual human trafficking since becoming aware, but also a handful of other agencies and organizations around the world and across the country.

This issue is a black mark on the whole of society. It is unnecessary, cruel, torture, demeaning and wrong. I urge everyone to learn about sexual human trafficking, contact Gracehaven to see what you can do to help and take a stand for these children and young person’s lives. They have no one to speak up for them if we do not advocate on their behalf. I also urge you to contact your local Senator/Congressman to demonstrate your desire for them to support bills presented in their arena. And while you’re busy doing all the challenges I have set before you, why don’t you try to walk a mile in her shoes?
 
Works Cited
DeLashmutt, Bev. Personal Interview. 26 February, 2010.

Estes, R.J. and Weiner. “The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the U.S., Canada
and Mexico.” University of Pennsylvania (2001). Web. 27 February, 2010.

Gracehavenhouse.org. N.p. Web. 24 January, 2010.

Jackson, Greg. Personal Interview. 8 March, 2010.

Pflug, Ellen. Greg Jackson at Walk A Mile In Her Shoes Event. 2009. JPEG file.

Talbott, Katie. E-mail Interview. 13 January, 2010.

Tiffany [pseudonym]. Personal Interview. 26 February, 2010.