Driving down a long secluded road bordered by trees and wildflowers, you suddenly emerge into a clearing. Nestled there at the base of a mountain are three beautiful buildings, a picture of serenity. Here is The WellHouse, a beacon of hope and help for women throughout the United States who have been victimized by sex trafficking. The WellHouse calls itself “A Place of Grace” for trafficking victims. Its ultimate goal is to offer eternal hope and refuge so that these victims will “never have to thirst again” (John 4:11-15).
Offering Opportunities Instead of Obstacles
Women who escape from trafficking often find themselves trapped in another web of obstacles. To keep women captive, traffickers strip them of all forms of identification. Without appropriate identification, passports, visas, or medical records, victims are shut out of the typical women’s shelter. Instead of obstacles, The WellHouse offers trafficking survivors opportunities. Women calling The WellHouse’s crisis line receive an offer of immediate shelter and assistance with no entry requirements.
Ultimately, The WellHouse desires to help trafficked women transition from being victims to survivors to overcomers.
Recognizing the trauma and brokenness trafficking victims experience, The WellHouse offers an unfolding process of long-term care and counseling. The staff first works to meet the physical and emotional needs of the survivor. Once rescued, it takes days for a trafficking victim to even begin processing her trauma. She’s been deceived and defeated. She is physically and emotionally broken down. She has often forgotten how to function in a safe environment. To provide 24-hour support, The WellHouse has house-moms who assist former victims of trafficking to remember how to live in a safe environment and how to live peacefully with other people. With household chores and a cooking rotation, one staff member likened this to “growing up backwards.”
Ultimately, The WellHouse desires to help trafficked women transition from being victims to survivors to overcomers. They prepare each woman for a successful re-entry into her family and community. In launching the journey to wellness, The WellHouse offers women the opportunity to begin earning a sustainable income, even while they still live on campus.
WorldCrafts and The WellHouse
It has been an honor for WorldCrafts to come alongside of The WellHouse in its mission to rescue and provide resources and opportunities for sex trafficking victims. As the newest artisan group in our Support Freedom Campaign, the women of The WellHouse handcraft beautiful bracelets made of amazonite and natural agate stone.
The Lauren Bracelet is a symbol of hope and healing for women who’ve been enslaved by sex traffickers. This bracelet is named for a beautiful woman named Lauren who taught The WellHouse women how to create beadwork jewelry. When Lauren began working on the jewelry project she was in remission from cancer. Since that time, her cancer came out of remission, and Lauren passed away. Her legacy lives on in each bracelet created around the crafting tables at the WellHouse.
You partner with all of us in the fight against sex trafficking with the purchase of each Lauren Bracelet. Through your purchase, women at The WellHouse are coming to understand their own value and worth, and they are learning how our Father values them through the offer of eternal hope.