Making the Invisible Visible
“What Naomi’s House is doing is making the invisible visible.” This statement was recently made by a community partner as we met for lunch. I was struck with that insight. Commercial sex trafficking is invisible in our community. But yet, on a regular basis, we receive referrals and phone calls from women looking for help. In fact, three referrals came to me personally in just the past several weeks. The first was a text from a staff person at Wheaton Academy (WA), a local Christian high school. The staff person at WA mentioned that she knew of someone in her small group who needed our services. The second was from a friend in Chicago. I received a call from a pastor of a large church in Chicago who met a woman fleeing her trafficker—she attended an Easter service and felt as if she could safely disclose her need for help. The pastor called me to connect her to our services in Chicago. The third was a call from a pastor in Dallas, Texas. He and his wife have a long-standing relationship with a woman who has been in and out of a trafficking ring for years. Her latest location was in the suburbs of Chicago, so when she called the pastor in Dallas for help, he called me to explain the situation. She needs everything we have to offer: comprehensive, gospel-centered, and trauma-informed care so that she can completely begin to build a new life.
Survivors are everywhere. Unfortunately, sexual exploitation doesn’t always have a clear “red flag” that makes it easy to identify victims. Survivors have simply learned to survive in their circumstances. My heart both leaps and grieves every time I receive a phone call or text with another woman who needs the help Naomi’s House can provide. It leaps because I know that we can help. Our services are top-notch, and meticulously designed to help her heal and find agency again. But my heart grieves as well because the need feels unending. The more we serve women, the more we know that the number of women needing Naomi’s House is greater than we can imagine. One of our Program Managers told me that she is turning women away at our Chicago location because the program is at capacity.
The community partner was right about survivors being invisible. They are everywhere, yet they are difficult to identify for a variety of reasons. This is the job we have in front of us, NH family. As partners of NH, you are bringing to light what is done in darkness. You are making a future possible for those who believe otherwise. You are making the invisible visible.
Below are many ways to use your partnership to continue to make a way for survivors to heal and flourish. Thank you for your faithfulness.
Simone
Executive Director