If not me then who? Not willing to stand by and witness the vulnerable continue to have no local placement for medical and psychological stabilization, I took immediate action. As founder and CEO and with assistance of others we created a faith-based 501c3 and began the two-year licensing process. The Retreat Home For Children has a very specific mission: To provide trauma-informed, medical and psychological stabilization with on-site services for girls, ages ten to seventeen, who have been exploited through sex trafficking.
The development of a place where child survivors of sex trafficking can find safety and have access to the proper therapeutic services for healing from the trauma they’ve endured has been a long-time passion of mine. Upon moving to Kendall County in 2018, I discovered many others with the same passion. With strategic relationships built in her medical work with survivors and others in the movement to end trafficking, along with strong community will and leadership in Boerne and neighboring communities The Retreat Home For Children was launched in June 2020.
Our story is the story of a community reaching out to the broken-hearted, the weak and weary, and the one who feels forgotten in order to bring hope and healing for a new life free from violence and exploitation. The story of The Retreat reflects God's story to all of us in Psalm 119:114: “You are my place of quiet retreat. I wait for your word to renew me.” It’s happening here, not just across borders.
Studies have been unable to get a true account of how many children worldwide have been exploited. This is because many cases are never reported, or even noticed. Because of this, many children suffer for long periods of time, facing harsh conditions, lack of food and clean water, dirty living conditions, lack of contact with their families, and physical and mental abuse. The harsh reality is that young girls are being sex trafficked across all socio-economic, racial, educational and family backgrounds. The primary factor that makes a girl vulnerable to being trafficked is her age.
As the crime of sex trafficking of children gains wider attention, and organizations already working in the juvenile justice system become efficient at identifying children who are victims, the number of children needing specialized services for the trauma of sex trafficking will continue to grow. However, there are currently only a handful of places in the United States where these children can receive the kind of services they need. The Retreat opened in May 2021 and it is the only live-in rehabilitation facility for child survivors of sex trafficking in the Bexar County area.
Partner with us to provide hope and healing for child survivors of sex trafficking. Every dollar you give will make a difference in the life of a survivor. www.retreat4kids.com.