Point of View: A Day in the Life of a Survivor at The Sanctuary

In the last post, you shared in the journey of a survivor to The Sanctuary. She went from the unimaginable to a new beginning at a safe place.

She’s safe from her trafficker. She isn’t forced to serve multiple clients a day. The threat of violence is gone. What now?

When a human trafficking survivor arrives at The Sanctuary, she has usually been to the hospital first. After getting appropriate testing and medical care, she is physically safe. She has a room of her own, nutritious food to help her body heal, and a caring staff devoted to her healing. The transition from where she was to this place of peace can be overwhelming!

The first eight to twelve weeks is a period of stabilization. She is introduced to the Uncaged staff and the space. She has to get used to the structure of waking up at the same time as everyone else, sharing meals with others, and attending devotions.

In this time, she is free to hang out with other survivors and staff but this is not necessary. She might need time alone outdoors. She might engage with the animals. We will slowly begin to introduce therapeutic interventions to calm her traumatized nervous system.

Once she gets acclimated to the new environment, she will get involved in a

structured program to help her move toward healing her mind and heart. The program champions and integrates the best practices in human trafficking aftercare carried out by trauma-informed staff, therapists, and caregivers. The survivor will engage in a morning routine of breakfast, a small devotional time, and a mindfulness check-in. This bodywork and breathing time will help her connect her body and emotions for the day ahead.

She will have time for daily tasks like laundry and cleaning up and learn important life skills. She will be involved in different tailored therapeutic interventions every day including life maps, sand tray therapy, art and equine therapy, ropes courses, process groups, and psycho-educational classes. She has plenty of time for fun with a walk outdoors, time for breaks, games, and activities with others like games, movies, and music.

There isn’t a “typical” day because every survivor is different and we make sure to stay tuned into her particular needs. But structure and consistency are essential, too. And we are committed to walking with her day in and day out on her journey and to seeing her reintegrate into the community and thrive!

Point of View: A Survivor Arrives at The Sanctuary

What came before this is unimaginable. A victim of human trafficking approaches a car, looking back over the days, months, or years she is leaving behind. She is moving onto another place but the trauma she has endured stays with her. Perhaps she carries the physical bruises on her body, like Tamara who had black eyes, a fractured jaw and cheekbone, broken ribs, and internal bleeding when she recently escaped from her trafficker. She most certainly carries the mental, emotional, and spiritual scars that a life of slavery and dehumanization will leave on her.

She doesn’t know what home or family looks like, but she hopes to. She longs for a place to be safe.

The Uncaged team has been instructed on what to say to her to help her feel cared for from the moment she steps into their presence. She steps into the car, accompanied by staff who have been trained in trauma-informed practices. Gentle music plays on the radio as she watches the landscape change. The tree-lined road bends toward a barricade that lets her know she is protected inside the walls erected just for her.

The gate swings open to reveal orchards, the fruit hanging on the limbs in early spring. She drives past the new pony standing next to his mother and watches the dogs play in the yard. She sees quaint cabins, a swing, a pool, flowers blooming, and a garden lovingly tended. The first survivor who arrived on the property saw the roses covering an archway and gasped, “All these roses are for me.”

Staff approaches the car with a snack and a warm drink. They greet her and guide her toward one of the cozy cabins and tell her, “Welcome home.” They hand her a bag filled with a robe, slippers, toiletries items, and a journal. It is all hers.

She tells the staff the same thing the girl before her said: “I don’t deserve this.” She keeps saying, “I can never repay you for this.” The thing is, she can’t imagine someone gifting her anything. The life she left behind came with the condition of always being in debt. She had to pay for everything she had with her body. Her trafficker, her clients—they only took from her. She couldn’t even imagine a warm bed, regular meals, or a safe place. A free gift is not something she understands—yet.

She will settle into her room feeling protected, knowing she has gentle supervision 24 hours a day. Now she needs time to rest, to begin to heal and feel safe. The first concern that will be met is her physical well-being. She will receive any medical care she needs in the coming days and time to recuperate. Her new life is just beginning!

One Person Trained, One Survivor Free!

“You aren’t going to believe this. One of our team members was sitting at home this afternoon eating lunch with his entire family. All of a sudden, their front door burst open and there was a girl there,” the man told our European director. This man was the owner of an ophthalmologist’s office who treated Annabelle last year when our team at The Sanctuary realized she was legally blind.

Our team stayed in touch with this gentleman and got a call from him a couple weeks ago. “I feel really strongly that you need to come and train my team in anti-human trafficking strategies so they can identify traffick victims when they come across them,” he told our European Director, Beni.

Beni told him he was very busy and about to go to the states. The man insisted. “I really feel like this needs to happen as soon as possible,” he said. Beni was able to make time in his schedule to train the staff and went onto his trip shortly after.

Shortly after this Beni received the call that connected us with a young woman in desperate need, we will call Tamara.

The owner of the business mean told Beni the girl who arrived at his team member’s door was beaten and battered. She was soaking wet and terrified. The family got her inside and calmed down. They were able to talk to her and realized she was a trafficking victim who had escaped from her trafficker just a couple buildings away. Because of the training he had received, the staff member knew what to do when Tamara arrived at his doorstep!

Beni called our team in Romania who launched into action! The family hid her in their apartment for a few hours until our team got there. She was badly beaten—black eyes, fractured jaw and cheek bone, broken ribs, and internal bleeding. Our team took her to five different hospitals for treatment. They got her some medication and clean clothes and took her to a safe place where she collapsed and slept the entire next day.

Her physical pain is healing slowly and she has a long way to total healing. But she is safe and secure now. She is free!

While the primary mission of the Sanctuary is bringing healing to survivors, we know the training we do aids this mission in ways we may not see for days, months, or years. One person trained can translate into identifying and caring for dozens of survivors!