Onehope Refuge Needs You Now

Words can’t describe the last month at Onehope Refuge; however, we’ll give it a go …

Please take two minutes to open your hearts and follow along:

Every single day, since opening our doors in March 2024 (six short months ago), hard and beautiful breakthroughs are happening at Onehope Refuge: a safe home for women escaping sex trafficking with their children. Families are putting in the work, stories are being rewritten and new futures are being realized. We stand in awe at the power of God’s redeeming grace and mercy.

To those who have supported this mission in any form, we thank you endlessly.

Onehope Refuge is now home to 2 mothers and their 5 total children.

If you were to enter the house today, it would look and sound like any other. School backpacks hang in the foyer, little shoes line the hallway, children run wild, laundry is humming, dinner is cooking and mom + one of our paid home coordinators are working tirelessly to make everything go round.

At first glance, you’d never suspect that just four weeks ago one of these families was dramatically rescued by Project Lost Sheep. A highly skilled task force of ex military members + ex law enforcement officers ventured into the darkness, against the evilest of mankind and led this deserving family to safety at Onehope Refuge. As advised, I joined too. We wish we could share the details … paint the full picture … however as you might suspect, for the security of all involved, these operations remain highly confidential.

Back to the house …

If you were to stick around a while, you’d realize that beneath all these “normal” looking activities, a much deeper mission is unfolding. On any given day, survivors are involved in psychological assessments, trauma-informed counseling (in-person and virtual), continuing education opportunities, life-skills training and/or faith-based devotions. Research shows it takes a minimum of two years to stabilize, restore and recover from the severe and complex PTSD experienced by sexually victimized women. Onehope Refuge’s holistic care model was designed with this data in mind. Simply put, we are in it for the long-haul. Survivors enter our program knowing they can stay for up to two years and after that, will be given the opportunity to live independently on our property (paying a small rental fee) for an agreed upon time frame.

We believe whole-heartedly in what we’re doing … we see progress being made every day … and we’re constantly reminded of the ever-growing demand for services like ours. 

You may remember from our last update; we are receiving more referrals than we can take on. At the moment, our home and our incredible staff are at full capacity.

80% of survivors – many of whom grew up in vulnerable, abusive situations – will end up being revictimized if they don’t have a safe place to go.

We long to serve more. To impact more. To change more lives.

Today, we kick off our first-ever defendHER Giving Campaign:

We have an AUDACIOUS (yet doable!!) goal of $600,000 by December 31.

• 13% of these funds will be used for reoccurring operating expenses:
  • Each month, it costs $25,000 to run Onehope Refuge.
  • Before we can welcome another family, we need to add +1 paid home coordinator to our current shoe-string staff of 6. This team provides 24/7 care and is absolutely essential to the success of this mission.  
  • We need a safe vehicle that can transport 10 people.  
• 87% of these funds will go to our land/build vision:
  • A developer has approached us with the opportunity to purchase land + build a new, expanded Onehope Refuge campus in/by the year 2026. Property plans include four independent living duplexes (housing 2 families each) and two administrative buildings (housing 1 family each). Up to 10 families will call this new location “home.” Timing of the project aligns with our current lease, which is set to expire in two years. 

If you can give – any amount at all – would you consider donating today?

Click here or the image below to give. Your contribution is incredibly valued and makes an immediate difference in the in the lives of our women + their children.