Catholic Sisters Providing Shelters and Resources

The U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking is a collaborative, faith-based national network that offers education, supports access to survivor services, and engages in advocacy in an effort to eradicate modern-day slavery. They envision a world without slavery with a network of services and resources to inform the public, prevent the crime and assist survivors to achieve a fulfilling life.

Four shelters available across the US:

Sisters in Shelter

Sisters in Shelter (SIS) is a 501c3 corporation dedicated to educating others about human trafficking and providing safe housing for adult female victims of human trafficking. Our founding members include Mercy Hospital, Seneca Medical, Inc. and the Sisters of St. Francis in Tiffin, Ohio and their Associates. SIS provides emergency housing and is collaborating with other entities to provide transitional housing for women who have chosen to rebuild their lives. Women have access to emergency medical care and are involved in wholesome living experiences which enable them to balance the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of their lives.

Contact: Sr. Mary Kuhlman, OSF
Director of Sisters in Shelter
PO Box 384
Tiffin, OH 44883

Dawn’s Place

Dawn’s Place 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.
Representative: Kathleen Coll, SSJ
P.O. Box 48253
Philadelphia, PA 19144

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 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 women survivors of human 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

Representative: Joan S. Dawber, SC

Phone: 718–779–8075
Website
Facebook
LinkedIn

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 to 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

Website

Survivor Assistance

“Being rescued by U.S. Immigration after four years in slavery, I am so thankful to be free. A community of Catholic sisters had a job opening for housekeeping. I worked during the day and started to go to ESL classes at night. After that, I took a certified nurse assistant course, GED, computer and driving classes. These opportunities changed my life and my family’s life. The opportunity opened doors for my future and helped to make me an independent and strong woman and motivated me to give back to my community.”

— Human Trafficking Survivor

Based on such testimony the ‘Survivor Support’ working group of U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking• (USCSAHT) is appealing to congregations of women religious, coalitions and individuals to assist survivors of human trafficking with education and job placement opportunities. USCSAHT is establishing a Josephine Bakhita Scholarship Fund, which will assist survivors to reach educational goals: ESL, GED, BA and BS degrees.

You can contribute in several ways:

• Make annual donations to the Josephine Bakhita Scholarship Fund;
• Offer a full or partial scholarship from one of your sponsored educational institutions to a survivor.
• Offer a survivor a paid position in a setting suited to her skills.

To make a donation, please send a check made payable to U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking.
In the memo line or elsewhere, please indicate that this donation is directed to the Josephine Bakhita Scholarship Fund.
Please mail your donation to: U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking

Attn. Sister Kathleen Coll, SSJ
Elizabeth House
138 W. Carpenter Lane
Philadelphia, PA 19119

For more information click on the PDFs detailing the two programs below:

1. Education Partnership on Behalf of a Human Trafficking Survivor
2. Employment Partnership on Behalf of a Human Trafficking Survivor

U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking is a collaborative, faith-based national network that offers education, supports access to survivor services, and engages in advocacy in an effort to eradicate modern-day slavery.

For yet more information, visit their website at https://www.sistersagainsttrafficking.org

Stock photo of a welcoming home (not one of these four shelters) by Jessica Furtney on Unsplash

Originally published at Stop Human Trafficking Website.