The Sanctuary is Getting Ready

A comfortable temperature may seem small to us, but to a survivor, it can be a miracle.

Just this winter, one survivor had to make a daring escape through freezing winter weather wearing rags. She was freezing and hungry when our team took her to safety. Other survivors have been left exposed in the heat or the winter with little care from their traffickers.

Because of these experiences, something as simple as extreme temperatures in the Sanctuary facility could be reminiscent of slavery to a survivor. As part of our trauma-informed approach, we want to make every effort to avoid that. That’s why our team has been making upgrades to the Sanctuary. We want each survivor to feel hope on her very skin when she arrives at the Sanctuary. This picture was in my mind when we recently installed the new HVAC equipment across the property. Click here to watch it happen!

Your support is making essential upgrades like these to the Sanctuary possible. Will you join us in preparing this place of hope and healing today?

Founder Featured on Truth Talk with Wendi

Our founder Kim Westfall was recently featured on the podcast Truth Talk with Wendi. In it, she discusses one of the urgent needs that inspired Uncaged.

"Experts kept coming up to me telling that they had just rescued 10, 12, even 20 survivors but then would pause and say, 'we could only find housing for half, the rest went back into trafficking.' I realized we could do so much better."

We are proud to say that we are doing better with support from people like you. Listen to the podcast to learn about our trauma-informed approach and Sanctuary model.

Talyssa Wins a Battle Against Her Trafficker

It may surprise to hear that Human Trafficking has everything to do with love. Anyone can be trafficked, but we know that people who need love are among the most vulnerable. Some studies have shown that over half of sex trafficking survivors ran way from home to escape broken or abusive homes. Young, rural women are often targeted, as are single mothers. And we know that traffickers deceive these women through promises of love through tactics like the Lover-Boy Method.

Talyssa thought she had found true love when she married her husband. He treated her like a queen at first. He was an influential lawyer. They had two beautiful children. Then, after years of marriage, Talyssa’s life became a nightmare. Her husband began to sell her for sexual exploitation out of their own home. He threatened that he would hurt her and the children if she spoke up.

Then, love stepped in. A neighbor noticed that Talyssa had bruises on her arms and neck. She saw that Talyssa’s demeanor had been changing, and that she saw the kids out less and less. This neighbor refused to stay silent and notified our team. She passed information to Talyssa about how to get in touch with us to plan an escape. Soon, we were able to get Talyssa and her two precious children to safety!

That was back in August. Talyssa has been on a journey of experiencing genuine love and care ever since. In October, after months of healing she told our team, “You have been with me when I thought I was alone. My heart was broken and my spirit was crushed. Then, you came along and cared for me. That is why I will not give up.”

Love has given her strength. She took her husband to court, our team at her side. Thanks to her resilience and newfound courage, she was able to celebrate a major victory just last week. She secured full custody of her children, and a judge has said that she will get to stay in her home - not her husband!

At Uncaged, we want every survivor to experience transformational love like Talyssa has. That love looks like wraparound support, trauma-informed care, and access to an army of freedom fighters who can stand by her side.

Your support is key to making sure that survivors experience this kind of love. Will you consider joining this fight and ensuring that survivors can know what true love is?

We have seen time and time again that it is the most powerful force for healing in the world.