Day 4 and 5

On Wednesday, March 18^th, we went to Courtney’s House, a place that helps survivors of human trafficking heal in a safe environment. Tina Frundt, a survivor of human trafficking, started Courtney’s House to have a place for survivors to gather and heal together. Courtney’s House and Tina also do a lot of advocacy and outreach into the community to spread awareness about human trafficking. Rachel, the Director of Operations, gave us an overview of their organization, their outreach programs and how they help their survivors. It was really great to see the amazing work that Tina, Rachel and all of the other women at Courtney’s House had accomplished and how much more they want to do.

We spent the day cleaning the house and organizing a lot of the donations that they received. I helped clean the first floor. There was a lot of cleaning to do, but because we worked quickly as a team, we were able to accomplish all that the staff needed in a few hours. After talking to other group members, a lot of us had the same mindset of wanting the place to be a clean, welcoming environment that the survivors would want to spend a lot of time in. It was a great service opportunity and a great way to help out women who are doing amazing work.

I have had several highlights throughout this trip so far. I enjoying going to Calvary Women’s Services and serving food to the women. It was great to hear stories about the women, how they were overcoming their struggles and to see them enjoying the food. Also, I was inspired by Chef Barbara who works at Calvary Women’s Services. She spends a lot of her time cooking for the women, spending time with them and empowering them along with the all of the staff. Calvary Women’s Services has a great program to help women who are temporarily or permanently homeless find jobs and a get back on their feet. They also have programs that help women with mental illnesses, trauma, skill building and more. In addition, I highly enjoyed teaching at Thurgood Marshall High School. The students actively participated and wanted to learn more about the issue. I’m excited to go back tomorrow and I know we’ll have a great time teaching again!

- Tiara Beatty