What is familial trafficking and how does Hands of Justice support survivors?
In this episode, Carrie Harney with Hands of Justice tells us her personal story of being trafficked as a child. It took Carrie many years to realize what she had experienced was exploitation, and it was not until she attended a Hands of Justice event as an adult and heard their presentation that she was able to identify herself as a survivor of trafficking.
Carrie now works as an Advocate for Hands of Justice and walks us through the many services they provide to survivors.
Carrie discusses:
- Her own personal vulnerabilities that led to a trafficking situation
- The importance of economic empowerment for survivors and what Hands of Justice does to help them achieve that
- Beautiful stories of redemption that Hands of Justice has experienced with the women they serve
Learn more at: https://www.handsofjustice.org/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to the Elijah Rising podcast.
Today, we're going to betalking about familial
trafficking and the work that anamazing organization called
Hands of Justice is doing tocombat both it and other forms
of trafficking.
Today I'm joined by Keri.
She's a lead advocate withHands of Justice, and why don't
you tell us a little bit aboutwhat Hands of Justice does?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
what Hands of Justice does.
So at Hands of Justice we kindof like to bridge that gap
between people who, between whatpeople like to think of as
residential care, and for peoplewho are just trying because
residential care is great.
We obviously thinkorganizations that have
residential care are amazing.
We partner with four differentorganizations in the area.
But a lot of people, unlessthey're willing to give up their
(00:46):
jobs and their homes, and ifthey have a spouse or children
or a pet, they can't go intoresidential care.
So we offer economicempowerment and support services
for survivors, both male andfemale, who are just trying to
get through life.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
That's amazing.
You guys do so much and I hopethat we'll unpack that a little
bit more as we go through.
But the piece that you guysbring to the table is so needed
and it's just such a gift to thecity.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So many people who don't have an understanding of
human trafficking think that oneof the main reasons people
relapse is drugs and they think,oh, the number one reason why
people relapse is drugs.
At Hands of Justice, we firmlybelieve that the number one
reason people relapse is lack ofeconomic empowerment.
They get out of the life, theyhave no skills, they oftentimes
(01:38):
have no documents and they don'thave the ability to get a job
and support themselves, and sowe try to kind of come in and
fill that gap.
We have a dignity boutiquewhere people can come and
receive free clothing andtoiletry items to help with.
Just a lot of times peopleescape with the clothes on their
back, but also if they needsomething for interviewing or
(01:58):
need clothes for a job, we offerthat to people.
We have a myriad of differentsupport groups for both men and
women.
We have support groups in theevening.
We are starting a support groupduring the days for our thought
processes that maybe somebodymight need it during their lunch
hour and they don't have theability to log in at night and
(02:18):
do a support group if they havesmall kids.
So we're starting that.
We have a support group for menas well, and we partner with
four different organizations inum in the area and who are safe
houses, and we offer supportgroup services to them, as well
as people who are just livingtheir lives and need support and
encouragement.
(02:39):
Yeah, um, I personally um leadthree of those, and then we have
other people that lead theother ones as well, that are
amazing at it, and it's one ofmy.
It is the favorite, my favoritepart about my job is leading
those support groups and gettingto work one-on-one with
survivors and help them tobecome overcomers.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Amazing.
Well, so tell us a little bitabout how you got involved with
Hands of Justice.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Okay, I love to tell the stories One of my favorite
stories of all time, because Iget to brag on God a little bit.
So I was drawn to work with twodifferent anti-trafficking
organizations.
Years before I everself-identified as a trafficking
victim, god just put them on myheart to start volunteering.
I met a few women and God justgave me this tremendous amount
(03:28):
of love for them and I wanted topour into their lives.
So I was volunteering on apretty consistent and regular
basis, and one of those womenthat I met she was in a safe
house when I met her asked me tobe her plus one at a hands of
justice fundraising event, andso I went to the event to
support her.
However, I was sitting at thetable that was full of the
(03:50):
speakers and the overcomers Wowand throughout the night, people
from the stage would point atour table and they would say
these amazing overcomers, I,they're so brave and they're so
strong, and they would just bragon everybody at the table.
And I immediately got annoyedby that.
I just was so annoyed and souncomfortable in my skin and I'm
sitting there and I'm smiling.
(04:11):
And then I asked myself thequestion I was like God, why is
this bothering me so much, like,why am I getting annoyed by
that?
Because I kept saying to myselfI'm just a victim of childhood
SA, I'm not a victim oftrafficking.
And so I just sat there at thegala at the table and I asked
God, why is this annoying me somuch?
(04:32):
And so I self-identified as atrafficking victim at a Hands of
Justice event.
Wow, that night I called myfriend and said I believe that I
was trafficked, and she gave meBecca, our founder's phone
number.
Becca, I called Becca, sheanswered and she got me
(04:53):
connected with a support group.
And that is how I first gotintroduced to Hands of Justice,
was at their event.
I self-identified there and thenI got plugged into a support
group.
I lead that very support groupnow that I once participated in
as a survivor Wow.
And I get goosebumps every timeI tell this story.
And I have them now.
(05:14):
And I've told this story somany times because, like I said,
I'd love to be able to brag onGod and what he did for me.
But he built me a supportstructure before I ever knew I
would need it.
And I had this ironclad supportstructure of people who
themselves had been trafficked,who I'd been pouring into, who I
loved with this godly love, andI had organizations that were
(05:34):
willing to support me and helpme along my healing journey.
So as I grew in my healing, myrole in Hands of Justice grew as
well, and I started out as thesubstitute group leader to the
group that I attended and thento one other one as well, and
then, after a while, then I justbecame group leader and then,
(05:56):
as things progressed along andmore and more healing happened,
I ended up being an assistantadvocate, and now my title is
technically lead advocate, but Idon't like to be like I'm the
lead.
That's not what that's.
Advocate.
And now my title is technicallylead advocate, but I don't like
to be like I'm the lead.
That's not what that's about,and so now I get to offer
advocacy services to survivorsas well as lead these support
groups Incredible, what anincredible story.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
I actually have never heard that, so I'm like blown
away.
Yeah, and I think that goes toshow even to our listeners.
You know, I think sometimes inthis field we think, oh,
everyone's heard abouttrafficking or everyone
understands, you know, andthere's so many.
The vast majority of peopleactually do not understand.
They don't.
Yeah so the importance ofawareness and then for people
(06:42):
just like yourself who have alived experience and going wait
a minute, wait a minute.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
That's me, you know, and almost every time I speak,
someone in the audienceself-identifies as as a victim
of trafficking.
Yeah, and I think that that forthe everyone that comes forward
and says, oh my gosh, I justreally there's people in the
audience that aren't comingforward because they don't feel
free to do that.
Specifically, I've only metvery few victims of familial
(07:12):
trafficking that are willing tospeak out because of just the
dynamics with the family and allthe guilt and shame and fear
that goes into that.
So that God has given me thislevel of freedom and um to be
able to speak, and to be able tospeak without fear, without um
shame or self-loathing, I thinkis just my honor and my
(07:33):
privilege to be able to pourinto others and um my life verse
is isaiah 61 3 and it's liketalks about beauty for ashes and
this is my beauty for ashesevery single day.
That's amazing and I get to pourinto other overcomers and help
them along their healing journey.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Yeah, you're like a beacon, like come this way right
.
You're like casting the light,and so can you.
You mentioned familialtrafficking.
You know it's something that Ithink a lot of people either
aren't familiar with that term,understand what it means and or
even don't believe that happensin the United States.
Would you mind unpacking thatfor us a little bit?
(08:11):
I would love to.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
So familial trafficking, as a definition, is
the exploitation of a child atthe hands of their family,
either through labor traffickingor sex trafficking.
So if you think of a child in asweatshop in Indonesia, that's
a form of familial trafficking.
Their parents have sold them tothis sweatshop.
Everybody's familiar with thatkind of idea of trafficking.
(08:36):
Oftentimes in America we thinkof familial trafficking as
something that might happenoverseas, where parents might
feel they're forced to sell oneof their children to sex
trafficking in order to supportthe rest of the family.
But what I've discovered in mywork and as I might speak, is
that people do not thinkfamilial trafficking is
(08:57):
something that happens here inthe United States and they are
very uncomfortable with the ideathat it's happening.
In every city and every town inthe United States of America
it's happening, and I thinkpeople like to kind of put up a
blinder oh, that doesn't happenhere.
And so that's why I feel thatit's so important for me to
(09:18):
speak whenever God gives meopportunity, because I can tell
people it does happen here, ithappened to me and it happened
to my sister as well, and it'shappening all around you.
And at no point in my childhoodor adolescence did anyone a
teacher, a counselor, anyonerecognize what was going on with
(09:42):
me and help?
And I exhibited every singletrauma response you would expect
a child to exhibit if they'rebeing trafficked at such an
early age and nobody helpednobody.
So whatever I can do to raiseawareness, to speak, because
sometimes I think of it likethis have you ever had a family
(10:04):
member or somebody you know thathad a health issue but they
don't want to go to the doctorbecause they don't want to know?
They're like if I go to thedoctor, then it becomes real and
so I'm not going to go to thedoctor, I'm just going to suffer
and deal.
I feel like a lot of people actthat way when it comes to
trafficking.
If I don't know about it.
So true, if I don't educatemyself on it, then it's not real
(10:25):
and I don't have to worry aboutthat as much because that
happens to other people, right?
And so I get to be that mirrorand hold it up and show people
like this is happening.
This is happening, and justbecause you might just like if
you ignore a tumor, it's notgoing to go away, just if you
ignore trafficking it's, itdoesn't mean it's going to go
away, yeah, it doesn't mean thatyour family members or yourself
(10:48):
are exempt from it, right.
It just means that you're allthe more likely to maybe end up
a prior victim or your familymember because you're not
educating yourself to thedangers.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Yeah, yeah, and I think it's taken.
So there's there's so muchnuance with familial trafficking
, you know, and you mentioned,you know the signs and the
exhibiting behaviors.
Do you mind touching on thatjust a little bit?
I'm thinking for our listenersmaybe, who are like teachers or,
you know, in places where thereare kids around.
(11:20):
But even if you're not in thatposition, if you have children
or teenagers and they havefriends and they come over, I
mean, these are things that wecan be educated to watch out for
them as well.
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
I think it's very hard for people to look at a
child and ask themselves is thischild exhibiting signs of PTSD
or complex PTSD?
Because they don't want tothink that way.
So for me I um, just to give alittle context um, I was
trafficked at the beginning, atthe age of three.
My sister was born with a birthdefect in her eyes and my
(11:57):
parents needed money for surgeryand I earned the money for that
surgery and that is when mytrafficking journey began, at
three.
So people don't want to look ata three-year-old or a
five-year-old.
So for me, one of the mainthings was I was incredibly
disconnected from my bodybecause I just compartmentalized
(12:18):
.
So I was very awkward.
And very things that were easyfor other people to do, like in
gym class, I physically couldn'tdo them.
I did not know how to move theway everybody else moved, I
couldn't.
So I was very disconnected frommy body.
It was incredibly anxious at avery early age.
Also, like I was, you know,forced to.
(12:42):
I wasn't, it wasn't.
Once the sex trafficking endedfor me, then, after that point,
I was forced to like earn mykeep through, like doing all of
the cooking, all of the.
I started cooking dinner ateight years old for the family.
Like had to make a menu,grocery list, all of the things.
So then so the the all of thatfear and that trauma it just
(13:03):
continued on of like, did I hangtheir shirts up the right way?
Did I did?
Is there any?
Like, grit left in the sinkfrom cleaning the sink?
Am I gonna get beat for that?
So the anxiety that I felt evenafter the trafficking started
was incredibly apparent.
I was an incredibly anxiouschild, but nobody helped and
nobody cared and um and so Ididn't act out in the
(13:28):
traditional ways that peoplethink through because, again, I
was three.
Yeah, so I'm not going to goout and drink or use drugs or do
any of the things that youwould perceive as typical acting
out behavior, because I didn'thave that ability to do that.
But I was incrediblydisassociative.
I could disassociate at thedrop of a hat.
(13:48):
I loved to read and just losemy.
I still do.
It's the only socially approvedform of disassociation is
reading, and so I would just, Iwould just check out and I would
be gone.
And I exhibited signs of ADHD,but it was really the symptoms
(14:10):
of PTSD.
Yeah, and so often if you lookat, just on paper, the signs of
ADHD in a child and the signs ofcomplex PTSD in a child.
A lot of those are overlap, andso we'll be so quick to believe
, oh, my child has, or thischild, a teacher, an educator,
this child has ADHD, let's getthem medicated, it's going to
(14:31):
fix it Right, instead ofthinking, ok, could this be a
trauma response?
It could be ADHD.
It also could be a traumaresponse, and as educators and
school counselors, daycareworkers, you may be the only
people that this child ever sees.
I went to school, Iparticipated in extracurricular
activities because I had toappear to be normal, and so
(14:54):
there were opportunities, butthere was just nobody who was
willing to look past myquote-unquote problems to see
what the root cause might havebeen.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yeah, that was you bring up a really interesting
point because, um, you know,children who are familial
trafficked are, vast majority,are going to school, they're
going to church, even they'retraveling, they're doing some
quote unquote like normal things.
But maybe, you know, behindclosed doors things are not as
(15:25):
they seem, and so I think that'sanother misconception that we
can break down for peoplebecause you think, oh well,
they're just at a hotel room orthey're like locked away
somewhere.
That's not the case at all.
They're all around us.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Right.
So statistically, across theboard children and adults only
2% of people who are traffickedare kidnapped.
So that applies to children aswell as adults.
So people like to have thisimage of oh, if my child's not
kidnapped, they're not going tobe trafficked, this isn't
something I have to worry about.
But if there's an uncle or anaunt who takes them for long
(16:00):
periods of time, if there's aneighbor that babysits and cares
for them, it can be happeningto your child.
And so that level of awarenessnobody wants to think that.
Nobody wants to sit there andthink is my child, you don't
want to make your child beafraid, you don't want to cross
that, but at the same time,because nobody likes to think
(16:21):
that it's a leading contributorto children being exploited and
not getting help that they needlong term.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Totally, we've done so many outreaches where you
know a young girl will come intothe hotel room and we meet with
her and talk with her and she'slike, oh well, I have to get
back to class tomorrow.
Or you know, my uncle's waitingfor me.
I mean just the craziestscenarios.
And you're like, oh my, this isright here, and it's really is
all around us and ourneighborhoods and, like you said
(16:51):
, daycares, all of these things.
Would you mind sharing a littlebit more about what Hands of
Justice does?
There is so much that you guysare doing and you have such an
amazing team working alongsidesurvivors, but you mentioned
that you have support groups formen.
I mean, I know I could go onand on, right.
But, let's just start there.
(17:12):
So what does that look like?
Speaker 2 (17:13):
And I do want to stress that there's only four of
us on staff, so we are a verysmall organization.
So, while my role may be leadadvocate, we do whatever needs
to get done, sure.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Many hats we do, we wear a lot of hats.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
So support groups are my favorite part of what I get
to do.
I personally get to lead three,and then we have support groups
for men.
We have a daytime support groupas well, and then we have a
support group for family membersof trafficking victims, and so
we try to be very holistic inour approach to this, because
(17:47):
trafficking affects the entirefamily.
Yeah, yeah, you know, 30% oftrafficking victims are male and
we are one of the feworganizations that offer
services to men.
They are completely separatefrom our services to women
because, for obvious reasons, wedon't want there to be any
re-traumatization or issues.
So we partner with in oursupport groups with four
(18:11):
organizations in the Houstonarea who have safe homes and I
get to lead support groups withthem.
And then we also have supportgroups for people much like
myself when I needed thatsupport group when I first
self-identified who were livingtheir lives but need that
support and that structure.
So we will get together via Zoomand so they're open nationwide.
We get together.
(18:33):
There'll be a topic for theweek, but oftentimes, um, I
might have a great topic in mindand then somebody will need
help with a certain thing.
So, like god, just gives mestrength to pivot, yeah, and we
just um, we just lean into oneanother.
We support one another whereverwe may be in our walk.
We'll have people who've beenout of the life for a very, very
long time, and then we'll havepeople who've been out of the
(18:53):
life for a very, very long time,and then we'll have people who
are fresh out of the life inthese support groups and so we
just support one another andencourage one another to keep
going and it's a very much ajudgment free zone, which is
very, very important For me.
(19:13):
The first time I came to asupport group, it felt very much
like when you would walk intolike a church for the first time
and feel like everybody'slike-minded, or if you do some
sort of like crocheting orknitting or pottery or whatever,
when you would go to like anevent and everybody there is
(19:34):
like you and everybody has thesame kind of interest as you.
Yeah, for me it felt very muchlike oh, okay everybody here is
like me and they get it, yeah,and they understand, yeah, and
so our traumas may be verydifferent.
Um, mine started at a very youngage and ended at a young age,
but trauma is trauma and so wejust it's the pillar of what we
(19:59):
do at Hands of Justice.
After that point, after supportgroups, we have our advocacy
services, scholarships, gedtraining, like I said, and then
we try to have outingsperiodically throughout the year
where people from the differentorganizations and the support
groups can all get together andI have to tell you, these are
(20:20):
some of the most beautiful times.
Our Christmas party is alwaysone of the most encouraging and
beautiful times of the year,because you might have people my
age who've been trafficked, andall the way down to maybe
teenagers at these places, andso for everybody to see like
we're all doing, we're allliving life, we're all walking
towards healing, we're all doingthe work that needs to be done,
(20:43):
and it's just such anencouragement to be in a big
space that's full of overcomersand it we hear stories
afterwards like that blessed meso much so, and so when she said
that it was such a blessing tome and it resonated with me, um,
these, these type of things arejust so very important for
overcomers, because we, um, youknow, with ptsd and especially
(21:08):
complex ptsd, comeshypervigilance, um not having
felt safety, not having, and soto walk into a space where
everybody is the same and we'renobody's going to judge you for,
for keeping your head on theswivel and making sure you're
safe and we're all just going tobe there together and and
support one another.
It's just, it's it's we get tocomfort others with the comfort
(21:30):
we've been given of God.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
And that's to me is amazing and beautiful and I.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
It's hard, it's exhausting, but it's the best
part of my job and I love it somuch.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
That's so important because I think that trauma
isolates whether you've lost aloved one or, like you know,
you've been through somethingthat you've been through.
Like trauma is isolating.
You don't feel, feel noteveryone gets it, not everyone
gets it, not everyone has beenthrough it and it's.
It's something that if you canbe in a room or on zoom right
(22:04):
with um, with other people whohave the same kind of
experiences, you you don't haveexplain yourself, you don't have
to defend yourself, you knownone of that.
All that goes away.
And if it seems like it wouldbe a place where survivors can
truly kind of relax, bethemselves, um, yeah, it's just
(22:25):
incredible.
What you guys are doing andthat you have support groups for
men is so unique, and then forthe family as well, I can just
see how powerful that would beRight, because you know, only 1%
of people traffic ever make itout.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
So for for like.
So I'm sitting hererepresenting like for me being
out.
There's 99 people behind methat never do.
Well, those are people, 99people with families, and they
need support and they need um toto be with somebody that can
and they go.
Oh, you too, you know right, ohright, oh, you do that too.
Yeah, worry too you.
(23:00):
All of that.
It's just so validating andit's something, um, you know,
that's just a beautiful thing tocome out of a tragedy, yeah, of
your child being in the life,to be able to have people that
support you and come beside youand you can form bonds with it's
an amazing thing and it's soneeded and, um, we are one of
(23:23):
the few organizations that doeshave the services for men, like
you said, but also the family aswell.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Yeah, and it's incredible important yeah, and I
want to touch on another thingreally quick.
So we, you know you mentionedthat you work with all the safe
homes in the city, of whichthere are four right.
Not very many.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
There are not.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Even in a big city, you know.
So that has been a realblessing, I know, to Elijah
Rising, I'm sure to the others,so we can have a safe space
where the residents in our carecan meet up with other survivors
and say like, okay, I'm notalone, I'm not a weirdo, right,
because I'm in this home or inthis program.
There's other people who are atdifferent stages of life, and
(24:01):
not only that, but they're downthe road, maybe from where I
want to be, and so that's likesomething to aspire to, you know
.
And they're not with our staff,right, because I'm sure they
get tired of our staff all thetime.
So it's just such a win, a winfor us, and I hope it's a win
for you guys.
But we've been so blessed bythose support groups
(24:21):
no-transcript and it's I again.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
I love it and I do think that I obviously we come
aside, we partner with safehomes and residential care
facilities, but I think thatwhen you're in the same place
with the same people day in andday out, you tend to get this
kind of myopic and this slightlyjaded view on things.
And so just to be able to havean outlet and be able to talk to
(24:46):
somebody that you don't talk toevery day or sees and I don't
know what's going on in thehouse.
I get to just have fresh earsand hold space for them and what
they're going through, and Ithink it's just, it's for me and
I hope for them.
It's a beautiful thing to beable to offer them a outlet
that's outside of what their dayin, day out life is.
(25:08):
Yeah, because when you're with,you know when you, when you're
in these programs and you're notlocked in but you're, you know
you're go.
Yeah you're committed.
You're kind of working theprogram.
Yes, it just becomes very likelittle things um, get blown up
into big things and but thenwhen you communicate it to
somebody, you're like wait Nowthat I say it out loud If it's
(25:31):
somebody who's not in the housewith me.
Maybe that wasn't that big of adeal after all.
But when you're in the houseit's kind of like a pressure
cooker in these homes and solike I get to be that steam
valve and where they can justlet off the pressure a little
bit and then they can go backand then for a week and then
they get to come back to me, letoff a little pressure of what's
going on in their day-to-daylives and then go.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
so I I get to be a small part, um of what their
healing journey is and I I'mgrateful for that that's huge,
you know, and um, it is such aninteresting niche because, you
know, I think, even in themovement we think, think, oh,
there's so much healing, there'sso much restorative work that
needs to be done.
A safe home is the answer, but,to your point, it's not always
(26:16):
the answer for everybody.
Not everyone can, you know,have the time or the space to do
that.
A lot of many, many people,women, have children.
So that's the number one reasonnationwide that women get
rejected from programs becausethey have children in their care
.
They can't just, you know, dropthem off with Nana or whatever.
They don't have that luxury, andso you know it's.
(26:38):
It really is a unique nichethat you guys have to serve,
kind of that in-between placewhere survivors are trying to
rebuild, trying to heal, butalso having to manage just
day-to-day things.
So is there like a successstory that you might want to
share with our listeners?
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Yes, I love getting asked that, so I'm going to
share one from about group andthen one from.
So, as I I said, I've recentlygotten the privilege of having
the elijah rising ladies um joinme for support group and they
um are also in group with umladies from another organization
as well, and it's sointeresting to me because when
(27:18):
the ladies are by themselves,they might be complaining, they
might be telling me everythingthat's gone wrong that week, but
when the two organizations cometogether, it creates this
environment where one person mayshare and then the other, the
ladies from the otherorganization, are speaking life
to them and encouraging them,and I just kind of get to sit
(27:38):
back for a minute and then theother organization will do the
same thing as well, and so theyare encouraging and supporting
one another in these supportgroups.
Um, and I'm sorry, I'm gettingemotional about it, because it's
this beautiful thing, becauseit's showing that a their
healing is progressing, they'rehaving like clear thoughts and
(28:00):
understanding and then they'rewanting to pour into people like
themselves, and so for me it'ssuch an encouragement that the
groups are working, and so Ilove that, and whenever they do
that, they'll be like oh, I feltlike that and I wanted to leave
and I wanted to throw awayeverything, but I didn't.
This is what worked for me andthis is, and this it's just huge
(28:24):
, because I also think that it'shuge for me to witness.
But I think for the personthat's getting to speak, life
and encourage someone, they'venever gotten to be a role model
before.
They've been more of acautionary tale, not something
to aspire to.
So when they get to speak toother women and encourage them
with, um, things that haveworked for them, it's huge and
(28:44):
it it can really belife-altering because they're
like, oh wait, I do havesomething worthwhile to say, um,
I do have something that isactually healing and that will
work.
Yeah, and so I love, I lovethat um, and it's so beautiful
and, um, I have an independentclient that, um, we're just so
(29:06):
very proud of.
I'm not going to go into toomany of her personal details,
but a little over a year ago shewas like 87 pounds.
She's walking with a cane.
She had relapsed back into thelife and into drugs and we were
worried we were going to loseher.
We genuinely were concernedthat she was going to die in the
life.
She has type 1 diabetes and hadhad several strokes, and so she
(29:30):
was.
We believed she's going to diein the life this time.
Yeah, because on average ittakes seven tries to get out.
And so she.
Almost a year ago she got outof the life she had off the
drugs.
She is so clear-headed now andis so grateful.
(29:51):
Her favorite thing in life isevery Sunday she gets to go to
the grocery store and she getsto buy the groceries that she's
going to eat that week and shegets to eat what she wants,
because she was starved in thelife and food was used as
control.
My goodness, and her absolutejoy in life excited, jumping up
and down the way some peoplemight jump up and down because
(30:12):
they're going to see TaylorSwift or something else.
She is so excited to go to thegrocery store.
Yeah, wow, and it's beautiful.
And so she is going to bewinning an award from a small
organization up in Dallas calledLost Lilies, and it's a very
small organization.
They just want to get togetheronce a year and bless an
overcomer and encourage them tokeep on fighting the good fight.
(30:34):
And so we'll be taking her upto Dallas in June and then she
will have her year freedom dateand her year sober in July.
Wow, that's huge.
So it's amazing to see.
It's amazing that she's alive,because one percent of us make
it out, but it's also amazing tojust get to hear how clear she
(30:55):
is now, the understanding thatshe has about what happened to
her, um and everything else.
And her story is particularlypoignant, um, because she was
born in the life.
She was born to um a drugaddicted mother in the life and
then that perpetuated and nowshe's breaking that cycle and
(31:15):
she's she is like setting thatboundary and she's stopping that
cycle in her life and, um, sheencourages all of us, yeah and
um, when we might be struggling,we're like like, oh, but this
one she's doing so good and wethought we were going to lose
her.
We thought she was going to dieand she's here and she's clear
(31:36):
headed and she's not just soberbut she's sober minded as well,
and she recently got baptizedWow, and it's such.
And she says that she feelscompletely different and she can
feel a difference this time.
And it's just the power of Godand what he can do, and so I'm
so very grateful to get to justcome alongside her on her
healing journey and support andencourage and love her.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
That's incredible, carrie.
You guys are doing suchphenomenal work.
I mean we could sit here allday, I think, and share stories
and testimonies.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
And I would love to do that one sometime.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Is there anything else, before we sign off for our
listeners that we haven'ttouched on, that you think it's
important for them to know?
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Okay, I I know that everybody's going to cringe when
I say this and I think thatit's so much like when your
pastor talks about tithing, howeverybody kind of checks out for
a moment and I'm begging youplease don't check out and just
listen, but we're completely anonprofit.
We do not receive any money fromthe government.
We do not.
(32:38):
None of us are in it for themoney.
You know, we have a shoestringstaff that is doing amazing
things and is changing the world, one overcomer at a time.
But funding is an issue and weneed funding and I don't like to
fear monger or put fear inanyone's heart, but if something
happened to somebody you love,a child you loved, you would
(32:59):
want us to be there for them,right, but we can only be there
for them if we receive the moneyand if you care enough about
the victims of trafficking togive.
Um, I hate talking about money.
I hate talking about thataspect because I believe that
god will provide, yeah, but alsogod might, may provide through
(33:21):
the people listening to thispodcast and giving them an
opportunity to give and lettingthem know that.
How vitally important it is,because the overcomer that I
talked about and how she'sreceiving her award and she's
sober If we hadn't been therefor her I'm not saying she might
not have gotten sober, but herjourney would have been that
much harder.
And if you were like me and yousuddenly self-identified as a
(33:44):
victim.
You would want us to be there.
You would want us to be therebecause it was personal.
But trafficking, humantrafficking, is personal.
Just because it doesn't affectyou personally, it doesn't mean
that it's affecting people thatyou see every day.
It's affecting people that youknow, but you just don't hear
(34:06):
about it.
And so the only way fortrafficking to for the battle to
be fought is for people to careand to volunteer and to serve.
But also, sometimes people justneed to care by logging on and
making a donation, and that's.
You don't have to do what I do.
You don't have to do what y'alldo.
(34:28):
Y'all just you can care, and soI think that's an important
thing to bring up, as much asit's cringy and I don't want to.
But we can only continue to dowhat we do if people keep the
lights on, because we do have afacility, we do have a building.
As much as you know, there arepeople who are volunteering and
(34:49):
would be in the fight, but inorder to effectively do what we
need to do, we have to have thatfacility.
And so I just want to encouragepeople to really ask God what
God might have for them in thatway and encourage people to sign
up for our newsletter.
Go on our website.
My personal testimony wasfilmed for YouTube a few months
(35:12):
back and if you go to thehandsofjusticeorg website, it's
on there and you could watchmore about my testimony.
If you want to hear about mystory and something I share with
people and I don't I don'talways share it, but I am
feeling led to do so right nowis January 30th, 2023.
(35:36):
My sister committed suicide as adirect result of the traumas
that she suffered as a childthat we both suffered as a child
and my sister.
She broke in a different waythan I broke.
I was a very broken littlechild, but she broke differently
than I did, and she didn't getto find healing and pour into
(36:00):
other people.
She didn't get to find healingand be the wife and the mother
that she wanted to be.
She didn't get to find that.
Um, and I did and I do, and soI praise god for that and I'm
grateful for that.
But people are literally dyingin the life.
And then she'd been out for along time.
She was an adult woman.
(36:20):
Yeah, but if people don't getthe care that they need and they
don't receive the services thatthey need.
This burden can become tooheavy to bear, yeah, and it can
become overwhelming, yeah, andso, um, I was already in this
fight before, um, it happened,but now I'm just like I'm that
much more on fire and that muchmore dedicated because I don't
(36:42):
want anybody to end up like mysister yeah, I don't want
anybody to be alone in theirpain, and that's something I
don't fire and that much morededicated because I don't want
anybody to end up like my sister.
I don't want anybody to bealone in their pain, and that's
something I don't want, andthat's something Hands of
Justice, as an organization,doesn't want, which is why we
support people, whether they'refamily members, they're men or
they're women, at all stages andages.
We want to be there for you andhold space and help you heal.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
It's incredible.
Thank you for sharing that.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
Thank you, there is no doubtthat this issue is a life or
death.
I mean you've just shared twostories out of I'm sure dozens
or hundreds of where I mean itreally comes down to life or
death.
Do we have the resourcesavailable?
(37:23):
Do we have the people available?
Do we have the people availableand are we willing to meet that
need?
So again, they can find youguys at handsofjusticeorg.
All the donation portals arethere.
I'm sure you guys have theother information about your
resources.
And just to be clear foranybody who is in the Houston
area, these guys are inMontgomery County.
They're kind of on the northside of Houston, but they serve
(37:45):
you guys, serve all the wholenation.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
It sounds like, yes, we don't set a boundary, so we
support support groups oradvocacy services, anyone.
So we're not just geographical.
We are strategically located inConroe because there isn't
anything up there in that areathat's anti-trafficking.
So we want to be able to serveHuntsville and that area as well
, but we do not put any sort ofgeographic boundaries on the
(38:14):
people that we serve.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Which is so cool because you, doing it by Zoom,
you literally can reach I meanso many people.
You can just spread and spreadand spread and continue to grow.
That's our hope.
Yeah Well, keri, it has beensuch an honor to have you here.
I hope we get to have you againon our podcast.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
I would love that and thank you for having me and for
giving me this opportunity.
I'm grateful, very, verygrateful.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
Absolutely.
It's been a joy and an honor.
Thank you so much for listeningand please like and subscribe.
Welcome back to the Elijah Rising podcast.
Today, we're going to betalking about familial
trafficking and the work that anamazing organization called
Hands of Justice is doing tocombat both it and other forms
of trafficking.
Today I'm joined by Keri.
She's a lead advocate withHands of Justice, and why don't
you tell us a little bit aboutwhat Hands of Justice does?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
what Hands of Justice does.
So at Hands of Justice we kindof like to bridge that gap
between people who, between whatpeople like to think of as
residential care, and for peoplewho are just trying because
residential care is great.
We obviously thinkorganizations that have
residential care are amazing.
We partner with four differentorganizations in the area.
But a lot of people, unlessthey're willing to give up their
(00:46):
jobs and their homes, and ifthey have a spouse or children
or a pet, they can't go intoresidential care.
So we offer economicempowerment and support services
for survivors, both male andfemale, who are just trying to
get through life.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
That's amazing.
You guys do so much and I hopethat we'll unpack that a little
bit more as we go through.
But the piece that you guysbring to the table is so needed
and it's just such a gift to thecity.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So many people who don't have an understanding of
human trafficking think that oneof the main reasons people
relapse is drugs and they think,oh, the number one reason why
people relapse is drugs.
At Hands of Justice, we firmlybelieve that the number one
reason people relapse is lack ofeconomic empowerment.
They get out of the life, theyhave no skills, they oftentimes
(01:38):
have no documents and they don'thave the ability to get a job
and support themselves, and sowe try to kind of come in and
fill that gap.
We have a dignity boutiquewhere people can come and
receive free clothing andtoiletry items to help with.
Just a lot of times peopleescape with the clothes on their
back, but also if they needsomething for interviewing or
(01:58):
need clothes for a job, we offerthat to people.
We have a myriad of differentsupport groups for both men and
women.
We have support groups in theevening.
We are starting a support groupduring the days for our thought
processes that maybe somebodymight need it during their lunch
hour and they don't have theability to log in at night and
(02:18):
do a support group if they havesmall kids.
So we're starting that.
We have a support group for menas well, and we partner with
four different organizations inum in the area and who are safe
houses, and we offer supportgroup services to them, as well
as people who are just livingtheir lives and need support and
encouragement.
(02:39):
Yeah, um, I personally um leadthree of those, and then we have
other people that lead theother ones as well, that are
amazing at it, and it's one ofmy.
It is the favorite, my favoritepart about my job is leading
those support groups and gettingto work one-on-one with
survivors and help them tobecome overcomers.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Amazing.
Well, so tell us a little bitabout how you got involved with
Hands of Justice.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Okay, I love to tell the stories One of my favorite
stories of all time, because Iget to brag on God a little bit.
So I was drawn to work with twodifferent anti-trafficking
organizations.
Years before I everself-identified as a trafficking
victim, god just put them on myheart to start volunteering.
I met a few women and God justgave me this tremendous amount
(03:28):
of love for them and I wanted topour into their lives.
So I was volunteering on apretty consistent and regular
basis, and one of those womenthat I met she was in a safe
house when I met her asked me tobe her plus one at a hands of
justice fundraising event, andso I went to the event to
support her.
However, I was sitting at thetable that was full of the
(03:50):
speakers and the overcomers Wowand throughout the night, people
from the stage would point atour table and they would say
these amazing overcomers, I,they're so brave and they're so
strong, and they would just bragon everybody at the table.
And I immediately got annoyedby that.
I just was so annoyed and souncomfortable in my skin and I'm
sitting there and I'm smiling.
(04:11):
And then I asked myself thequestion I was like God, why is
this bothering me so much, like,why am I getting annoyed by
that?
Because I kept saying to myselfI'm just a victim of childhood
SA, I'm not a victim oftrafficking.
And so I just sat there at thegala at the table and I asked
God, why is this annoying me somuch?
(04:32):
And so I self-identified as atrafficking victim at a Hands of
Justice event.
Wow, that night I called myfriend and said I believe that I
was trafficked, and she gave meBecca, our founder's phone
number.
Becca, I called Becca, sheanswered and she got me
(04:53):
connected with a support group.
And that is how I first gotintroduced to Hands of Justice,
was at their event.
I self-identified there and thenI got plugged into a support
group.
I lead that very support groupnow that I once participated in
as a survivor Wow.
And I get goosebumps every timeI tell this story.
And I have them now.
(05:14):
And I've told this story somany times because, like I said,
I'd love to be able to brag onGod and what he did for me.
But he built me a supportstructure before I ever knew I
would need it.
And I had this ironclad supportstructure of people who
themselves had been trafficked,who I'd been pouring into, who I
loved with this godly love, andI had organizations that were
(05:34):
willing to support me and helpme along my healing journey.
So as I grew in my healing, myrole in Hands of Justice grew as
well, and I started out as thesubstitute group leader to the
group that I attended and thento one other one as well, and
then, after a while, then I justbecame group leader and then,
(05:56):
as things progressed along andmore and more healing happened,
I ended up being an assistantadvocate, and now my title is
technically lead advocate, but Idon't like to be like I'm the
lead.
That's not what that's.
Advocate.
And now my title is technicallylead advocate, but I don't like
to be like I'm the lead.
That's not what that's about,and so now I get to offer
advocacy services to survivorsas well as lead these support
groups Incredible, what anincredible story.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
I actually have never heard that, so I'm like blown
away.
Yeah, and I think that goes toshow even to our listeners.
You know, I think sometimes inthis field we think, oh,
everyone's heard abouttrafficking or everyone
understands, you know, andthere's so many.
The vast majority of peopleactually do not understand.
They don't.
Yeah so the importance ofawareness and then for people
(06:42):
just like yourself who have alived experience and going wait
a minute, wait a minute.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
That's me, you know, and almost every time I speak,
someone in the audienceself-identifies as as a victim
of trafficking.
Yeah, and I think that that forthe everyone that comes forward
and says, oh my gosh, I justreally there's people in the
audience that aren't comingforward because they don't feel
free to do that.
Specifically, I've only metvery few victims of familial
(07:12):
trafficking that are willing tospeak out because of just the
dynamics with the family and allthe guilt and shame and fear
that goes into that.
So that God has given me thislevel of freedom and um to be
able to speak, and to be able tospeak without fear, without um
shame or self-loathing, I thinkis just my honor and my
(07:33):
privilege to be able to pourinto others and um my life verse
is isaiah 61 3 and it's liketalks about beauty for ashes and
this is my beauty for ashesevery single day.
That's amazing and I get to pourinto other overcomers and help
them along their healing journey.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Yeah, you're like a beacon, like come this way right
.
You're like casting the light,and so can you.
You mentioned familialtrafficking.
You know it's something that Ithink a lot of people either
aren't familiar with that term,understand what it means and or
even don't believe that happensin the United States.
Would you mind unpacking thatfor us a little bit?
(08:11):
I would love to.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
So familial trafficking, as a definition, is
the exploitation of a child atthe hands of their family,
either through labor traffickingor sex trafficking.
So if you think of a child in asweatshop in Indonesia, that's
a form of familial trafficking.
Their parents have sold them tothis sweatshop.
Everybody's familiar with thatkind of idea of trafficking.
(08:36):
Oftentimes in America we thinkof familial trafficking as
something that might happenoverseas, where parents might
feel they're forced to sell oneof their children to sex
trafficking in order to supportthe rest of the family.
But what I've discovered in mywork and as I might speak, is
that people do not thinkfamilial trafficking is
(08:57):
something that happens here inthe United States and they are
very uncomfortable with the ideathat it's happening.
In every city and every town inthe United States of America
it's happening, and I thinkpeople like to kind of put up a
blinder oh, that doesn't happenhere.
And so that's why I feel thatit's so important for me to
(09:18):
speak whenever God gives meopportunity, because I can tell
people it does happen here, ithappened to me and it happened
to my sister as well, and it'shappening all around you.
And at no point in my childhoodor adolescence did anyone a
teacher, a counselor, anyonerecognize what was going on with
(09:42):
me and help?
And I exhibited every singletrauma response you would expect
a child to exhibit if they'rebeing trafficked at such an
early age and nobody helpednobody.
So whatever I can do to raiseawareness, to speak, because
sometimes I think of it likethis have you ever had a family
(10:04):
member or somebody you know thathad a health issue but they
don't want to go to the doctorbecause they don't want to know?
They're like if I go to thedoctor, then it becomes real and
so I'm not going to go to thedoctor, I'm just going to suffer
and deal.
I feel like a lot of people actthat way when it comes to
trafficking.
If I don't know about it.
So true, if I don't educatemyself on it, then it's not real
(10:25):
and I don't have to worry aboutthat as much because that
happens to other people, right?
And so I get to be that mirrorand hold it up and show people
like this is happening.
This is happening, and justbecause you might just like if
you ignore a tumor, it's notgoing to go away, just if you
ignore trafficking it's, itdoesn't mean it's going to go
away, yeah, it doesn't mean thatyour family members or yourself
(10:48):
are exempt from it, right.
It just means that you're allthe more likely to maybe end up
a prior victim or your familymember because you're not
educating yourself to thedangers.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Yeah, yeah, and I think it's taken.
So there's there's so muchnuance with familial trafficking
, you know, and you mentioned,you know the signs and the
exhibiting behaviors.
Do you mind touching on thatjust a little bit?
I'm thinking for our listenersmaybe, who are like teachers or,
you know, in places where thereare kids around.
(11:20):
But even if you're not in thatposition, if you have children
or teenagers and they havefriends and they come over, I
mean, these are things that wecan be educated to watch out for
them as well.
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
I think it's very hard for people to look at a
child and ask themselves is thischild exhibiting signs of PTSD
or complex PTSD?
Because they don't want tothink that way.
So for me I um, just to give alittle context um, I was
trafficked at the beginning, atthe age of three.
My sister was born with a birthdefect in her eyes and my
(11:57):
parents needed money for surgeryand I earned the money for that
surgery and that is when mytrafficking journey began, at
three.
So people don't want to look ata three-year-old or a
five-year-old.
So for me, one of the mainthings was I was incredibly
disconnected from my bodybecause I just compartmentalized
(12:18):
.
So I was very awkward.
And very things that were easyfor other people to do, like in
gym class, I physically couldn'tdo them.
I did not know how to move theway everybody else moved, I
couldn't.
So I was very disconnected frommy body.
It was incredibly anxious at avery early age.
Also, like I was, you know,forced to.
(12:42):
I wasn't, it wasn't.
Once the sex trafficking endedfor me, then, after that point,
I was forced to like earn mykeep through, like doing all of
the cooking, all of the.
I started cooking dinner ateight years old for the family.
Like had to make a menu,grocery list, all of the things.
So then so the the all of thatfear and that trauma it just
(13:03):
continued on of like, did I hangtheir shirts up the right way?
Did I did?
Is there any?
Like, grit left in the sinkfrom cleaning the sink?
Am I gonna get beat for that?
So the anxiety that I felt evenafter the trafficking started
was incredibly apparent.
I was an incredibly anxiouschild, but nobody helped and
nobody cared and um and so Ididn't act out in the
(13:28):
traditional ways that peoplethink through because, again, I
was three.
Yeah, so I'm not going to goout and drink or use drugs or do
any of the things that youwould perceive as typical acting
out behavior, because I didn'thave that ability to do that.
But I was incrediblydisassociative.
I could disassociate at thedrop of a hat.
(13:48):
I loved to read and just losemy.
I still do.
It's the only socially approvedform of disassociation is
reading, and so I would just, Iwould just check out and I would
be gone.
And I exhibited signs of ADHD,but it was really the symptoms
(14:10):
of PTSD.
Yeah, and so often if you lookat, just on paper, the signs of
ADHD in a child and the signs ofcomplex PTSD in a child.
A lot of those are overlap, andso we'll be so quick to believe
, oh, my child has, or thischild, a teacher, an educator,
this child has ADHD, let's getthem medicated, it's going to
(14:31):
fix it Right, instead ofthinking, ok, could this be a
trauma response?
It could be ADHD.
It also could be a traumaresponse, and as educators and
school counselors, daycareworkers, you may be the only
people that this child ever sees.
I went to school, Iparticipated in extracurricular
activities because I had toappear to be normal, and so
(14:54):
there were opportunities, butthere was just nobody who was
willing to look past myquote-unquote problems to see
what the root cause might havebeen.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yeah, that was you bring up a really interesting
point because, um, you know,children who are familial
trafficked are, vast majority,are going to school, they're
going to church, even they'retraveling, they're doing some
quote unquote like normal things.
But maybe, you know, behindclosed doors things are not as
(15:25):
they seem, and so I think that'sanother misconception that we
can break down for peoplebecause you think, oh well,
they're just at a hotel room orthey're like locked away
somewhere.
That's not the case at all.
They're all around us.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Right.
So statistically, across theboard children and adults only
2% of people who are traffickedare kidnapped.
So that applies to children aswell as adults.
So people like to have thisimage of oh, if my child's not
kidnapped, they're not going tobe trafficked, this isn't
something I have to worry about.
But if there's an uncle or anaunt who takes them for long
(16:00):
periods of time, if there's aneighbor that babysits and cares
for them, it can be happeningto your child.
And so that level of awarenessnobody wants to think that.
Nobody wants to sit there andthink is my child, you don't
want to make your child beafraid, you don't want to cross
that, but at the same time,because nobody likes to think
(16:21):
that it's a leading contributorto children being exploited and
not getting help that they needlong term.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Totally, we've done so many outreaches where you
know a young girl will come intothe hotel room and we meet with
her and talk with her and she'slike, oh well, I have to get
back to class tomorrow.
Or you know, my uncle's waitingfor me.
I mean just the craziestscenarios.
And you're like, oh my, this isright here, and it's really is
all around us and ourneighborhoods and, like you said
(16:51):
, daycares, all of these things.
Would you mind sharing a littlebit more about what Hands of
Justice does?
There is so much that you guysare doing and you have such an
amazing team working alongsidesurvivors, but you mentioned
that you have support groups formen.
I mean, I know I could go onand on, right.
But, let's just start there.
(17:12):
So what does that look like?
Speaker 2 (17:13):
And I do want to stress that there's only four of
us on staff, so we are a verysmall organization.
So, while my role may be leadadvocate, we do whatever needs
to get done, sure.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Many hats we do, we wear a lot of hats.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
So support groups are my favorite part of what I get
to do.
I personally get to lead three,and then we have support groups
for men.
We have a daytime support groupas well, and then we have a
support group for family membersof trafficking victims, and so
we try to be very holistic inour approach to this, because
(17:47):
trafficking affects the entirefamily.
Yeah, yeah, you know, 30% oftrafficking victims are male and
we are one of the feworganizations that offer
services to men.
They are completely separatefrom our services to women
because, for obvious reasons, wedon't want there to be any
re-traumatization or issues.
So we partner with in oursupport groups with four
(18:11):
organizations in the Houstonarea who have safe homes and I
get to lead support groups withthem.
And then we also have supportgroups for people much like
myself when I needed thatsupport group when I first
self-identified who were livingtheir lives but need that
support and that structure.
So we will get together via Zoomand so they're open nationwide.
We get together.
(18:33):
There'll be a topic for theweek, but oftentimes, um, I
might have a great topic in mindand then somebody will need
help with a certain thing.
So, like god, just gives mestrength to pivot, yeah, and we
just um, we just lean into oneanother.
We support one another whereverwe may be in our walk.
We'll have people who've beenout of the life for a very, very
long time, and then we'll havepeople who've been out of the
(18:53):
life for a very, very long time,and then we'll have people who
are fresh out of the life inthese support groups and so we
just support one another andencourage one another to keep
going and it's a very much ajudgment free zone, which is
very, very important For me.
(19:13):
The first time I came to asupport group, it felt very much
like when you would walk intolike a church for the first time
and feel like everybody'slike-minded, or if you do some
sort of like crocheting orknitting or pottery or whatever,
when you would go to like anevent and everybody there is
(19:34):
like you and everybody has thesame kind of interest as you.
Yeah, for me it felt very muchlike oh, okay everybody here is
like me and they get it, yeah,and they understand, yeah, and
so our traumas may be verydifferent.
Um, mine started at a very youngage and ended at a young age,
but trauma is trauma and so wejust it's the pillar of what we
(19:59):
do at Hands of Justice.
After that point, after supportgroups, we have our advocacy
services, scholarships, gedtraining, like I said, and then
we try to have outingsperiodically throughout the year
where people from the differentorganizations and the support
groups can all get together andI have to tell you, these are
(20:20):
some of the most beautiful times.
Our Christmas party is alwaysone of the most encouraging and
beautiful times of the year,because you might have people my
age who've been trafficked, andall the way down to maybe
teenagers at these places, andso for everybody to see like
we're all doing, we're allliving life, we're all walking
towards healing, we're all doingthe work that needs to be done,
(20:43):
and it's just such anencouragement to be in a big
space that's full of overcomersand it we hear stories
afterwards like that blessed meso much so, and so when she said
that it was such a blessing tome and it resonated with me, um,
these, these type of things arejust so very important for
overcomers, because we, um, youknow, with ptsd and especially
(21:08):
complex ptsd, comeshypervigilance, um not having
felt safety, not having, and soto walk into a space where
everybody is the same and we'renobody's going to judge you for,
for keeping your head on theswivel and making sure you're
safe and we're all just going tobe there together and and
support one another.
It's just, it's it's we get tocomfort others with the comfort
(21:30):
we've been given of God.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
And that's to me is amazing and beautiful and I.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
It's hard, it's exhausting, but it's the best
part of my job and I love it somuch.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
That's so important because I think that trauma
isolates whether you've lost aloved one or, like you know,
you've been through somethingthat you've been through.
Like trauma is isolating.
You don't feel, feel noteveryone gets it, not everyone
gets it, not everyone has beenthrough it and it's.
It's something that if you canbe in a room or on zoom right
(22:04):
with um, with other people whohave the same kind of
experiences, you you don't haveexplain yourself, you don't have
to defend yourself, you knownone of that.
All that goes away.
And if it seems like it wouldbe a place where survivors can
truly kind of relax, bethemselves, um, yeah, it's just
(22:25):
incredible.
What you guys are doing andthat you have support groups for
men is so unique, and then forthe family as well, I can just
see how powerful that would beRight, because you know, only 1%
of people traffic ever make itout.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
So for for like.
So I'm sitting hererepresenting like for me being
out.
There's 99 people behind methat never do.
Well, those are people, 99people with families, and they
need support and they need um toto be with somebody that can
and they go.
Oh, you too, you know right, ohright, oh, you do that too.
Yeah, worry too you.
(23:00):
All of that.
It's just so validating andit's something, um, you know,
that's just a beautiful thing tocome out of a tragedy, yeah, of
your child being in the life,to be able to have people that
support you and come beside youand you can form bonds with it's
an amazing thing and it's soneeded and, um, we are one of
(23:23):
the few organizations that doeshave the services for men, like
you said, but also the family aswell.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Yeah, and it's incredible important yeah, and I
want to touch on another thingreally quick.
So we, you know you mentionedthat you work with all the safe
homes in the city, of whichthere are four right.
Not very many.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
There are not.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Even in a big city, you know.
So that has been a realblessing, I know, to Elijah
Rising, I'm sure to the others,so we can have a safe space
where the residents in our carecan meet up with other survivors
and say like, okay, I'm notalone, I'm not a weirdo, right,
because I'm in this home or inthis program.
There's other people who are atdifferent stages of life, and
(24:01):
not only that, but they're downthe road, maybe from where I
want to be, and so that's likesomething to aspire to, you know
.
And they're not with our staff,right, because I'm sure they
get tired of our staff all thetime.
So it's just such a win, a winfor us, and I hope it's a win
for you guys.
But we've been so blessed bythose support groups
(24:21):
no-transcript and it's I again.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
I love it and I do think that I obviously we come
aside, we partner with safehomes and residential care
facilities, but I think thatwhen you're in the same place
with the same people day in andday out, you tend to get this
kind of myopic and this slightlyjaded view on things.
And so just to be able to havean outlet and be able to talk to
(24:46):
somebody that you don't talk toevery day or sees and I don't
know what's going on in thehouse.
I get to just have fresh earsand hold space for them and what
they're going through, and Ithink it's just, it's for me and
I hope for them.
It's a beautiful thing to beable to offer them a outlet
that's outside of what their dayin, day out life is.
(25:08):
Yeah, because when you're with,you know when you, when you're
in these programs and you're notlocked in but you're, you know
you're go.
Yeah you're committed.
You're kind of working theprogram.
Yes, it just becomes very likelittle things um, get blown up
into big things and but thenwhen you communicate it to
somebody, you're like wait Nowthat I say it out loud If it's
(25:31):
somebody who's not in the housewith me.
Maybe that wasn't that big of adeal after all.
But when you're in the houseit's kind of like a pressure
cooker in these homes and solike I get to be that steam
valve and where they can justlet off the pressure a little
bit and then they can go backand then for a week and then
they get to come back to me, letoff a little pressure of what's
going on in their day-to-daylives and then go.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
so I I get to be a small part, um of what their
healing journey is and I I'mgrateful for that that's huge,
you know, and um, it is such aninteresting niche because, you
know, I think, even in themovement we think, think, oh,
there's so much healing, there'sso much restorative work that
needs to be done.
A safe home is the answer, but,to your point, it's not always
(26:16):
the answer for everybody.
Not everyone can, you know,have the time or the space to do
that.
A lot of many, many people,women, have children.
So that's the number one reasonnationwide that women get
rejected from programs becausethey have children in their care
.
They can't just, you know, dropthem off with Nana or whatever.
They don't have that luxury, andso you know it's.
(26:38):
It really is a unique nichethat you guys have to serve,
kind of that in-between placewhere survivors are trying to
rebuild, trying to heal, butalso having to manage just
day-to-day things.
So is there like a successstory that you might want to
share with our listeners?
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Yes, I love getting asked that, so I'm going to
share one from about group andthen one from.
So, as I I said, I've recentlygotten the privilege of having
the elijah rising ladies um joinme for support group and they
um are also in group with umladies from another organization
as well, and it's sointeresting to me because when
(27:18):
the ladies are by themselves,they might be complaining, they
might be telling me everythingthat's gone wrong that week, but
when the two organizations cometogether, it creates this
environment where one person mayshare and then the other, the
ladies from the otherorganization, are speaking life
to them and encouraging them,and I just kind of get to sit
(27:38):
back for a minute and then theother organization will do the
same thing as well, and so theyare encouraging and supporting
one another in these supportgroups.
Um, and I'm sorry, I'm gettingemotional about it, because it's
this beautiful thing, becauseit's showing that a their
healing is progressing, they'rehaving like clear thoughts and
(28:00):
understanding and then they'rewanting to pour into people like
themselves, and so for me it'ssuch an encouragement that the
groups are working, and so Ilove that, and whenever they do
that, they'll be like oh, I feltlike that and I wanted to leave
and I wanted to throw awayeverything, but I didn't.
This is what worked for me andthis is, and this it's just huge
(28:24):
, because I also think that it'shuge for me to witness.
But I think for the personthat's getting to speak, life
and encourage someone, they'venever gotten to be a role model
before.
They've been more of acautionary tale, not something
to aspire to.
So when they get to speak toother women and encourage them
with, um, things that haveworked for them, it's huge and
(28:44):
it it can really belife-altering because they're
like, oh wait, I do havesomething worthwhile to say, um,
I do have something that isactually healing and that will
work.
Yeah, and so I love, I lovethat um, and it's so beautiful
and, um, I have an independentclient that, um, we're just so
(29:06):
very proud of.
I'm not going to go into toomany of her personal details,
but a little over a year ago shewas like 87 pounds.
She's walking with a cane.
She had relapsed back into thelife and into drugs and we were
worried we were going to loseher.
We genuinely were concernedthat she was going to die in the
life.
She has type 1 diabetes and hadhad several strokes, and so she
(29:30):
was.
We believed she's going to diein the life this time.
Yeah, because on average ittakes seven tries to get out.
And so she.
Almost a year ago she got outof the life she had off the
drugs.
She is so clear-headed now andis so grateful.
(29:51):
Her favorite thing in life isevery Sunday she gets to go to
the grocery store and she getsto buy the groceries that she's
going to eat that week and shegets to eat what she wants,
because she was starved in thelife and food was used as
control.
My goodness, and her absolutejoy in life excited, jumping up
and down the way some peoplemight jump up and down because
(30:12):
they're going to see TaylorSwift or something else.
She is so excited to go to thegrocery store.
Yeah, wow, and it's beautiful.
And so she is going to bewinning an award from a small
organization up in Dallas calledLost Lilies, and it's a very
small organization.
They just want to get togetheronce a year and bless an
overcomer and encourage them tokeep on fighting the good fight.
(30:34):
And so we'll be taking her upto Dallas in June and then she
will have her year freedom dateand her year sober in July.
Wow, that's huge.
So it's amazing to see.
It's amazing that she's alive,because one percent of us make
it out, but it's also amazing tojust get to hear how clear she
(30:55):
is now, the understanding thatshe has about what happened to
her, um and everything else.
And her story is particularlypoignant, um, because she was
born in the life.
She was born to um a drugaddicted mother in the life and
then that perpetuated and nowshe's breaking that cycle and
(31:15):
she's she is like setting thatboundary and she's stopping that
cycle in her life and, um, sheencourages all of us, yeah and
um, when we might be struggling,we're like like, oh, but this
one she's doing so good and wethought we were going to lose
her.
We thought she was going to dieand she's here and she's clear
(31:36):
headed and she's not just soberbut she's sober minded as well,
and she recently got baptizedWow, and it's such.
And she says that she feelscompletely different and she can
feel a difference this time.
And it's just the power of Godand what he can do, and so I'm
so very grateful to get to justcome alongside her on her
healing journey and support andencourage and love her.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
That's incredible, carrie.
You guys are doing suchphenomenal work.
I mean we could sit here allday, I think, and share stories
and testimonies.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
And I would love to do that one sometime.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Is there anything else, before we sign off for our
listeners that we haven'ttouched on, that you think it's
important for them to know?
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Okay, I I know that everybody's going to cringe when
I say this and I think thatit's so much like when your
pastor talks about tithing, howeverybody kind of checks out for
a moment and I'm begging youplease don't check out and just
listen, but we're completely anonprofit.
We do not receive any money fromthe government.
We do not.
(32:38):
None of us are in it for themoney.
You know, we have a shoestringstaff that is doing amazing
things and is changing the world, one overcomer at a time.
But funding is an issue and weneed funding and I don't like to
fear monger or put fear inanyone's heart, but if something
happened to somebody you love,a child you loved, you would
(32:59):
want us to be there for them,right, but we can only be there
for them if we receive the moneyand if you care enough about
the victims of trafficking togive.
Um, I hate talking about money.
I hate talking about thataspect because I believe that
god will provide, yeah, but alsogod might, may provide through
(33:21):
the people listening to thispodcast and giving them an
opportunity to give and lettingthem know that.
How vitally important it is,because the overcomer that I
talked about and how she'sreceiving her award and she's
sober If we hadn't been therefor her I'm not saying she might
not have gotten sober, but herjourney would have been that
much harder.
And if you were like me and yousuddenly self-identified as a
(33:44):
victim.
You would want us to be there.
You would want us to be therebecause it was personal.
But trafficking, humantrafficking, is personal.
Just because it doesn't affectyou personally, it doesn't mean
that it's affecting people thatyou see every day.
It's affecting people that youknow, but you just don't hear
(34:06):
about it.
And so the only way fortrafficking to for the battle to
be fought is for people to careand to volunteer and to serve.
But also, sometimes people justneed to care by logging on and
making a donation, and that's.
You don't have to do what I do.
You don't have to do what y'alldo.
(34:28):
Y'all just you can care, and soI think that's an important
thing to bring up, as much asit's cringy and I don't want to.
But we can only continue to dowhat we do if people keep the
lights on, because we do have afacility, we do have a building.
As much as you know, there arepeople who are volunteering and
(34:49):
would be in the fight, but inorder to effectively do what we
need to do, we have to have thatfacility.
And so I just want to encouragepeople to really ask God what
God might have for them in thatway and encourage people to sign
up for our newsletter.
Go on our website.
My personal testimony wasfilmed for YouTube a few months
(35:12):
back and if you go to thehandsofjusticeorg website, it's
on there and you could watchmore about my testimony.
If you want to hear about mystory and something I share with
people and I don't I don'talways share it, but I am
feeling led to do so right nowis January 30th, 2023.
(35:36):
My sister committed suicide as adirect result of the traumas
that she suffered as a childthat we both suffered as a child
and my sister.
She broke in a different waythan I broke.
I was a very broken littlechild, but she broke differently
than I did, and she didn't getto find healing and pour into
(36:00):
other people.
She didn't get to find healingand be the wife and the mother
that she wanted to be.
She didn't get to find that.
Um, and I did and I do, and soI praise god for that and I'm
grateful for that.
But people are literally dyingin the life.
And then she'd been out for along time.
She was an adult woman.
(36:20):
Yeah, but if people don't getthe care that they need and they
don't receive the services thatthey need.
This burden can become tooheavy to bear, yeah, and it can
become overwhelming, yeah, andso, um, I was already in this
fight before, um, it happened,but now I'm just like I'm that
much more on fire and that muchmore dedicated because I don't
(36:42):
want anybody to end up like mysister yeah, I don't want
anybody to be alone in theirpain, and that's something I
don't fire and that much morededicated because I don't want
anybody to end up like my sister.
I don't want anybody to bealone in their pain, and that's
something I don't want, andthat's something Hands of
Justice, as an organization,doesn't want, which is why we
support people, whether they'refamily members, they're men or
they're women, at all stages andages.
We want to be there for you andhold space and help you heal.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
It's incredible.
Thank you for sharing that.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
Thank you, there is no doubtthat this issue is a life or
death.
I mean you've just shared twostories out of I'm sure dozens
or hundreds of where I mean itreally comes down to life or
death.
Do we have the resourcesavailable?
(37:23):
Do we have the people available?
Do we have the people availableand are we willing to meet that
need?
So again, they can find youguys at handsofjusticeorg.
All the donation portals arethere.
I'm sure you guys have theother information about your
resources.
And just to be clear foranybody who is in the Houston
area, these guys are inMontgomery County.
They're kind of on the northside of Houston, but they serve
(37:45):
you guys, serve all the wholenation.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
It sounds like, yes, we don't set a boundary, so we
support support groups oradvocacy services, anyone.
So we're not just geographical.
We are strategically located inConroe because there isn't
anything up there in that areathat's anti-trafficking.
So we want to be able to serveHuntsville and that area as well
, but we do not put any sort ofgeographic boundaries on the
(38:14):
people that we serve.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Which is so cool because you, doing it by Zoom,
you literally can reach I meanso many people.
You can just spread and spreadand spread and continue to grow.
That's our hope.
Yeah Well, keri, it has beensuch an honor to have you here.
I hope we get to have you againon our podcast.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
I would love that and thank you for having me and for
giving me this opportunity.
I'm grateful, very, verygrateful.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
Absolutely.
It's been a joy and an honor.
Thank you so much for listeningand please like and subscribe.
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