Fall 2021

Dear Friend,

When I was a child, everyone in my family was in scouting.
For family vacations, we often took hiking, camping, and fishing adventures. Through all those experiences, I learned a lesson that I would carry with me throughout my life: “always leave the campsite better than you found it.”

In 2007 the Lord led me onto this 23-acre historic estate. It was overgrown, junked up and boarded up. Over 3+ years, with the contributions of thousands of volunteers, together we turned this abandoned estate into a place of beauty and healing. For over a decade this property welcomed women from across the nation who had been abused and exploited. More than a few of those 107 women we served felt they had gone from homelessness to living in a mansion! They came to TSW because in many ways, they had nowhere else to go.

After studying the service landscape, we realized we had to do more. There are still 9 states in the U.S. with no shelter program and 8 states with only one. That means hundreds of survivors have no options for a pathway out.

In response, we created the Institute for Shelter Care, a national initiative to build up shelter programs of conviction and excellence.

So, in 2022 we will take our next big step. After 15 years in Baltimore, TSW will be leaving this lovely, historic property, so filled with incredible memories. In so many ways this property served as a metaphor for the work we were privileged to do in the lives of the survivors. What was once soiled, abandoned, unwanted has –through love, community, and faith in Christ—become new again. We believe we will be leaving this “campsite” far better than we found it, because we will leave behind the legacy of lives transformed, souls reclaimed, and new memories made.

We already have staff and adjunct faculty working virtually in eight states. We have recently been given a larger, technologically-equipped facility with classrooms and digital studio space in Louisville, Kentucky which will allow us to increase our efforts and utilize all available tools to reach survivors and those who care for them. So as of the end of 2021, we will be moving our base of operations.

Nothing has changed in our commitment to provide the best for survivors of domestic sex trafficking. The Lord is expanding our territory and blessing us with a greater responsibility. As He goes before us, we take these steps in boldness.

Together with God’s help, we can realize a day when any survivor—anywhere in the nation—would have access to qualified, compassionate care.

We invite you to move boldly with us.