×

Refuge 1:99 opening to help victims of human trafficking

Shari Prichard of Women in the Word Ministries -- Janice Kiaski

WINTERSVILLE — “Once you meet a human trafficking victim, you can’t walk away unchanged,” guest speaker Shari Prichard told members of the OFWC/Woman’s Club of Wintersville during a recent club meeting held at St. Florian Hall.

And the local woman who runs the full-time nonprofit Women in the Word Ministries explained that ultimately has contributed to plans in the coming weeks to open Refuge 1:99, a long-term residential safe house at an undisclosed local location for up to seven adults who are victims of human trafficking.

“It’s definitely an encounter that changes your life, changes your heart and makes you more aware of what’s going on around you,” Prichard said in sharing information about what’s happening nationally, in Ohio and locally from a human trafficking standpoint.

“Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery that occurs when one person exerts control over another person in order to exploit them economically,” she explained. “In this scenario the victim is controlled through manipulation, violence or the threat of violence on their family, and they cannot walk away,” said Prichard, who has been busy on the speaking circuit promoting the safe house and its first public fundraiser.

The latter is New York in the Valley, which gets under way at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Steubenville Country Club.

The event will feature J. Jones Evening Wear, a Chinese auction and light refreshments. Tickets are $30 each, with tables of eight available. Phyllis Riccadonna and Beth Rupert-Warren are co-chairs for the event, and Prichard will give a presentation. The fashion show will include prom, wedding and adult evening wear. Everyone who attends will have the opportunity to win a special door prize — a $250 certificate that can be used toward a prom gown donated by Jill Jones of J. Jones Evening Wear.

Tickets can be purchased at Iacovissi in the Hollywood Shopping Plaza; at McDonnell Chiropractic, 2315 Sunset Blvd.; or by calling Riccadonna at (740) 317-3868. They also will be available at the door Sunday.

“I have been speaking about this for the past three months at different churches and organizations, and everyone always says why don’t they just walk away,” Prichard said. “Imagine, if you had been in a controlled environment since a young age and never allowed to make decisions, allowed freedoms, beaten on regular basis and threatened on a regular basis and raped repeatedly over and over. The idea of you just walking away one day when you’re old enough is nonexistent. It doesn’t exist,” she told the Wintersville Woman’s Club audience. “These victims are trapped. They’re not there by choice, but because they’re being forced, beaten, raped, drugged, and they don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel, and that’s why I feel incredibly passionate. It’s not OK to sit by idle any more and not pay attention to what’s going on around us.”

The top five states in the country for reported human trafficking incidents to the national hotline are California, Texas, Florida, Ohio and New York, according to Prichard. “Ohio is in the top five, so we must do something,” she said.

“The process for recovery is not an easy process, but we believe human life is worth the effort and that’s why Women in the Word Ministries will open Refuge 1:99, a long-term residential safe house for women. We believe that restoring survivors is a one-on-one process, and the first step is having a safe place to live. The project has been overseen by a local board meeting monthly since August 2017 and working very diligently to get Refuge 1:99 open,” Prichard said.

The donated home will be staffed by social workers, nurses and trained volunteers 24-7. Refuge 1:99 will offer mental, physical and spiritual healing as well as educational and job readiness. It is a member of Attorney Gen. Mike DeWine’s Anti-Trafficking Commission as well as local task forces.

“The location will remain undisclosed for the protection of the residents and staff,” she said. “All of our residents have an individual recovery plan to help them, and we’re partnering with Coleman Professional Services to provide intensive case management; Trinity Health System and East Liverpool City Hospital for detox and medical care; as well as a number of local physicians and dentists and health care providers, nurse practitioners and optometrists who have all come forward wanting to be a part of this and wanting to help survivors, so each person who stays with us will have a recovery plan including medical, dental, care and physical identity modification,” she explained.

“We have been working to connect with other safe houses in the country, and we’re excited about this,” Prichard said.

“There are less than 500 beds across the country for all the survivors. Homes are full. One of our partners is called Streets of Hope in Denver. We sent a team of our staff and volunteers there this Christmas to spend some time and talk about how to do things. We met them at a conference in Toledo in September, and they were more than happy to form partnerships and relationships because those things just really don’t exist in this world.

“So what we do, we work in conjunction with other safe houses across the country to move women, which can be very expensive because traveling not cheap,” she said. “We send transporters specially trained to do their job to pick up individuals and take them where they need to go.

It is estimated that globally, human trafficking is a $150 billion annual business, she said.

When local victims are identified “and brought to our attention, if they’re willing to go in a recovery program, the next thing we will do is contact one of our partners across the country, and we will provide transportation to get them where they need to be.” Prichard said the goal would be to get a local victim “someplace where they can stay, be safe there and not be tracked down by the trafficker because that’s a very real concern.”

The average stay at a safe house is estimated at 12 to 18 months, but Prichard noted, “If we need to modify how long the program is we will, but we want it to be available as long as they need it. Our goal is recovery and restoration and preparing them to be a productive person in society.”

It will be the only safe house in the Ohio Valley.

For information about the facility, call Prichard at (740) 317-0823.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

COMMENTS

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today