Recent Posts:
3 Big Benefits of Living in a Retirement Community During the Winter
December 20, 2024 No Comments
Read More » *Trigger Warning: Mentions human trafficking*
The Babbling Brook would be remiss if we did not mention that March is Women’s History Month. It has been only since 1995 that the President has proclaimed March as a month to honor and give voice to the accomplishments of women from both the past and present, and to encourage women’s achievements in the future.
Recently at Willow Brook, we had the good fortune to witness the sense of kinship and sisterhood that is fostered when women have the opportunity to help one other. Our assisted living residents at The Centrum at Willow Brook Christian Village had the chance to take part in a project to help women survivors of human trafficking by creating gift bags for survivors attending an upcoming national retreat.
Human trafficking is classified as a form of modern-day slavery involving the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.1 Sadly, Ohio is routinely ranked among the top states with the number of calls made to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Human trafficking thrives in the shadows, but it is pervasive. Both children and adults are trafficked. Because cases are not always reported and obtaining data can be difficult, it is hard to pinpoint an annual number of victims. However, in 2020, the National Human Trafficking Hotline received a total of 51,667 substantive phone calls, text, webchats, emails, or online tip reports nationwide.
“Human trafficking work is not just about reaching victims, it’s also about restoration,” says Robin, a volunteer helping survivors of human trafficking. Robin works with trafficking survivors at The Journey of Grace Survivor Retreat.2 These retreats are held several times a year and are meant to aid women in their healing process and journey. At each retreat, the volunteers and leaders place a gift bag on each of the survivor’s bunks. Many of these women have not had much, if anything, to call their own for a long time, if ever, and this is a way for them to have something that is uniquely theirs. At least 75 survivors nationwide are expected at the upcoming April retreat. The little gift bags are a way of saying that there is hope, they are not alone, and that they are individuals who have value, worth, are cared for, and are loved.
And that’s where our Willow Brook family came in to help.
Last Friday, our Centrum women gathered together, eager to start filling those bags. They filled them with a multitude of small items such as pens and purse size notepads, snacks, colorful cosmetic bags, tissues, and of course chocolate! Several of our independent resident women wrote letters to these women to include with the gift bags as well. All the items for the gift bags, that our WBCV women filled by hand, were donated by staff, family, friends, church communities, and residents of the Willow Brook family.
As our residents filled the bags—about 100 in all—excited chatter floated through the air with anticipation for helping those in need. It was remarked several times how impressed they were that all these items were donated by others wanting to support these recovering women. The smiles and joy that permeated the room spoke to how much our residents longed to touch the lives of these survivors through this gesture. In addition, our residents felt useful, needed, and fulfilled to be able to do something to make a difference in the world.
Aging does not diminish our power to help the world through kindness, and we need not limit our good works for women to the month of March—there is power, beauty, and hope in these small acts whenever we do them. They remind us that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. As Susan B. Anthony said, “The older I get, the greater power I seem to have to help the world.”
To view our full gallery of photos, clicking the image to enlarge it, then click the arrow to scroll through:
1. In a local study conducted between 2014-2016, there were 1,032 known victims in Ohio, and that was only within the timeframe and radius of the study. To learn more about helping, discovering, or reporting cases and victims in the Ohio area you can visit: Central Ohio Reach and Restore Coalition, Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, or Delaware County Against Human Trafficking. If you or someone you know is trapped in a trafficking situation, call this hotline 1-888-373-7888, or text “HELP” to BeFree (233733) or dial 911 to get help immediately. You are not in this alone and there is help.
2. This particular retreat is solely for women survivors, however there is separate aid for men who are survivors as well, to learn more visit Our Survivor Program.