Member Run Houses
AEHT hold the following values and expectations of the member-run houses and programs we support:
1) DIGNITY
We value the uniqueness of each person. We promote respect and giftedness of each individual. We believe that each person needs to be treated justly.
2) EMPOWERMENT
We value helping a survivor discover a sense of their true self. We promote self-agency and foster personal growth. We accompany and provide mentorship.
3) COMPASSION AND COURAGE
We respect cultural and personal differences. We honor the truth of the survivor’s perspective. We support healing through fears and risk.
4) COLLABORATION AND JUSTICE
We work with individuals and organizations that share our values. We value diversity among staff and in methodology, modeling inclusivity, justice and advocacy.
Benedict Center
Sisters Program South was created as a neighborhood-based response to the health and safety needs of women in street prostitution, including women who are trafficked. It is a day program which includes street outreach, case management and meeting the needs of the women where they are at. During the coldest winter months it remains open 24 hours as a “warming room” safe place to stay. It is the work of the Benedict Center, which is an interfaith, nonprofit community justice agency working for victims, offenders and the community.
Initially, five congregations were able to expand their work to the south side of Milwaukee. The current collaborators include: Ascension Lutheran Church, Sinsinawa Dominicans, School Sisters of St. Francis, and Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi, Sisters of St. Agnes, School Sister of Notre Dame and Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis. In addition to representatives from each of our communities, we have three women survivors on our Advisory Board. The women have access to meals, a sleeping area, showers and a safe place to gather. The program includes an innovative community-police partnership and is gaining recognition as a more effective way to improve the health and safety of women and communities.
The Benedict Center
1849 N Dr. Martin Luther King Dr
Suite 101
Milwaukee, WI 53212
Contact: Sister Linda Szocik, SSJ-TOSF
lindaszocik@att.net
Bethany House of Hospitality
Bethany House of Hospitality, located in Chicago, Illinios is a house for immigrant women between the ages of 18-22, including survivors of trafficking. The house opened in October 2017 and has served over 40 women since then. It is supported by 32 religious orders of women and four religious orders of men. Support has also been provided by foundations and individual donors.
Currently, there are three sisters on the staff and several religious women volunteers. The Board is composed of sisters from nine of the founding religious communities.
Contact: Peggy (Margaret) Geraghty, BVM
mgeraghty@bvmsisters.org
Executive Director: Darlene Gramigna
darleneg@bethanyhouseofhospitality.com
Website: http://bethanyhouseofhospitality.com
Dawn’s Place
Dawn’s Place in Philadelphia proactively supports women affected by commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) and its abuse by providing services to women, raising awareness through education, and generating prevention, public policy reform, and community collaborations. Because we believe that CSE is a violation of human rights and the most extreme form of domestic violence, Dawn’s Place works to improve the lives of women trapped by, or at risk for CSE, by providing housing, trauma recovery services, vocational training, and other services.
Contact: Sr. Meaghan Patterson
dawnsplacemp@gmail.com
Website: https://ahomefordawn.org
House of Rahab
Part of Tigerlili Resources—Bakhita Spiritual Companions, this safe house located in Jerseyville, IL launched in 2019. Participants at The House of Rahab come together in a family-style setting at the most crucial time of their healing journey; the beginning. Their stay will range from one night to one month, depending on the application, acceptance, and approval process of their next program.
During their stay, they will experience unconditional love, rest, home-cooked meals, comfortable beds, hot showers, and basic living necessities. They will also participate in various activities such as Bible studies, small groups, individual counseling, arts, music, fitness and more.
Contact: Sister Esther Hogan, CPPS
ehogan@cpps-ofallon.org
CEO: Meredith Seithel-Mittelstadt
Meredith@TigerliliPB.org
Website: http://www.tigerliliresources.org/
LifeWay Network
LifeWay Network is a non-profit organization collaborating to confront human trafficking. LifeWay’s vision is a society free of human trafficking and its mission is twofold: providing safe housing for women survivors of both sex and labor trafficking, and raising public awareness of this often hidden crime. LifeWay Network is one of only two organizations in the New York metro area providing safe housing, since 2012, for both foreign and domestic survivors of sex and labor trafficking. LifeWay also seeks to raise awareness, deepen understanding, and engage others around the issue of human trafficking through presentations to the general public, networking, and participating in conferences on human trafficking.
LifeWay Network, Inc.
P.O Box 754215
Forest Hills, New York 11375
Contact: Joan S. Dawber, SC
founder@lifewaynetwork.org
CEO: Marion Kendall
Mkendall@lifewaynetwork.org
Lila Mae’s House
Lila Mae’s House in Northwest Iowa is open “to provide a safe, healthy environment where adult survivors of sex trafficking can rest, heal, recover and develop life skills to become empowered, independent and self-sufficient women.”
Before we were open to welcome women COVID shut down services but Lila Mae’s House (LMH) is open to accept women from anywhere in the United States. LMH is a transitional home and women will usually spend 6 – 24 months learning basic life skills, trauma therapy, job training, natural healing techniques, and empowerment.
LMH has designated a safe bedroom for persons with COVID, which includes access to outside, therapy sessions via electronic device, specially designed food service ware, and desk. Lila Mae’s House is still in the process of assessing survivors who would best benefit and fit our program.
For additional information contact us at 712-899-6211 or check our website www.lilamaeshouse.org.
Sister Contact: Sr. Shirley Fineran, OSF shirley.fineran@briarcliff.edu
Mary’s Guest House
The Marist Missionary Sisters have a special concern for under-served women and children. Mary’s Guest House was born in November 2005 following in-depth research on the needs of trafficking survivors. Mary’s Guest House specifically addresses the urgent need of appropriate shelter for women survivors over the age of eighteen. Staffed full-time by two Sisters, the guest house accommodates five women.
The ultimate goal is to help the guests rebuild their lives and become self-reliant or to return to their family. The shelter provides a safe, homelike environment. Communal life is shared with the guests, accompanying them as mentors and supporting them in their struggles, hopes, and dreams. Collaboration is offered with an array of services addressing their physical, medical, immigration, educational, spiritual and psychological needs. They can live at the guest house for up to two years while preparing for employment and independent living.
Another priority is to raise awareness of Human Trafficking through speaking engagements and presentations as active collaborators in the San Diego Network Against Trafficking to combat exploitation locally and globally.
P.O. Box 121828
Chula Vista, CA 91912
Contact: Sr. Christina MacLean, SMSM
Email: mghsmsm@gmail.com
Website: https://www.marysguesthouse.com
Rahab’s Heart
Lee Ann Campbell, a survivor, and Sister Sandy Sherman OSU began Rahab’s Heart in 2011 simply by doing street outreach and having monthly dinners in a church basement. The House, a non-residential drop-in center in Ohio, opened in November 2014. Women may come to get needed food and personal supplies, take showers, and do laundry. Many of the women are older and were trafficked as children and later turned to self-prostitution as it was the only definition of themselves they knew. Many have children who also struggle with many issues. There are semi-monthly dinners and two retreats a year in addition to the street outreach. The local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) provides art for our retreats and once a month after dinner. There is also a weekly Bible Study for a small interested group.
The mission of Rahab’s Heart is to walk with women as they are and when they are ready, guide them to resources that can assist. Rahab’s Heart also partners with The Daughter Project which has worked with trafficked teens. Through them we have access to the Celebrate Recovery Program and Open Table. We had a woman in each of the programs in 2019.
Contact: Sr. Sandy Sherman OSU
ssherman@ursulinecenter.org
Director: Jeff Wilbarger
jeff@thedaughterproject.org
St. Bakhita Catholic Worker House
The St. Bakhita Catholic Worker community has two goals. First, we follow the example of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement, teaching and living every day the Beatitudes proclaimed by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount. Second, in partnership with Franciscan Peacemakers Clare Community, we help provide supportive community housing for women who are survivors of sexual exploitation. Women making that transition benefit from the spiritual nourishment and community-building that are part of the Catholic Worker tradition.
3138 North 2nd St.
Milwaukee WI 53212
Main: (414)372-3620
Contact: Anne Haines
Website: https://www.bakhitahouse.org/
Vista Maria
At Vista Maria we know that it takes a Fearless Heart to overcome the challenges of abuse and trauma and move forward. An unwavering courage, limitless love and positive vision that was embodied in 1883 by our founder Sister Mary Euphrasia, is carried on today by each one of us. What began as a home for girls and women in need has evolved to encompass mental health services, foster care and adoption, independent living, and secure care for the survivors of human trafficking, plus education, after school care and advocacy for the welfare of children.
Our 16 bedroom DeRoy Hall opened in 2014 to address the unique needs of adolescent female trafficking survivors. We continue to expand on our campus with new stabilization housing and an Emergency Intake Wing, which centers on the girl’s safety and care by bringing law enforcement, medical, legal, and protective services professionals to her in our secure and familiar surroundings.
Contact:
20651 West Warren Street
Dearborn Heights, MI 48127
info@vistamaria.org
Main: (313) 271-3050
Toll-free: (800) 7-VISTA-6
Website: https://www.vistamaria.org/
