If “service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth” as boxing great Muhammad Ali stated…then I pay rent to a few different organizations. Freedom Place and Redeemed Ministries to name a few and both help women heal after being sex trafficked.
Freedom Place treats and counsels young girls under the age of 18 and Redeemed Ministries serves the women 18 and over.
January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month and this post is one in a four-part series. I’m sharing my personal experience serving this particular community. I interview Desirie Dougall, the Operations Director of Redeemed Ministries, and get her insight on sex trafficking and the Super Bowl. I find her insight particularly relevant since Houston, my city, is hosting the event this year.
Then there’s the poem from a teenage girl that wowed us all at a Freedom Place Poetry Slam a few years ago. The young lady and staff gave me permission to release her words (just not her name).
And finally, there’s a vlog of the days’ events while in Austin for Human Trafficking Advocacy Day. We heard from organizations such as Truckers Against Trafficking and several state officials—Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Senfronia Thompson to name a few.
My hope is that you hear the stories, hear the testimonies of those diligently working to stop trafficking now, listen to the words of a survivor and be moved to action.
Please enjoy my story about That Girl.
Lisa N. Alexander is the author and founder of This Woman Knows and What Million-Dollar Brands Know. She is an award-winning filmmaker, director, producer, and writer and is the owner of PrettyWork Creative.