Weekly Update

If you are not following us on social media, you might have missed our big office happenings this week:

Volunteer and husband to our office manager, Ethan Courtney, was in the office on Monday to hang paintings in our Resource Center which were made by our Murfreesboro volunteer group. This room is now both a functional and inspirational asset for our survivors.

It feels like Christmas every day as more and more items for our survivor safe house keep coming in. We are so thankful for the amazing generosity of this community and for each and every person who has contributed to make this house a real home for our survivors.

Wednesday was a busy day. We had four male labor trafficking referrals meet with Yvette and Jennifer to begin to determine the options available to them. From this meeting we found out that there are 13 men total who have been tricked into forced labor.

Two of our survivors were also in the office most of the day Wednesday working with t-615, Jobs for Life, and in therapy. Special thanks to Amy Rivera who was the babysitter for our survivor’s son for a good five hours that day too! 

And if you really have been avoiding social media this week, you missed out on the HUGE news about the landmark trafficking case – the first “John” convicted of human trafficking was sentenced to 22 years. Major kudos to Antoinette Welch from the DA’s office and to everyone who showed up and packed the courtroom in defense of our most vulnerable population! Your presence certainly made a difference and was specially noted in an article in The Tennessean about the sentencing. 

Friday was a calmer relief after Thursday’s events here at the office. Thankful to Clarice Groomswho came in to help Karen prepare for our next volunteer training coming up next week.

And be sure to check out Derri’s TEDx Talk from March – the video was finally released and is available for viewing on our FB page!

Onward!