TRAFFICKING
local employer for humantrafficking survivors, who often have arrest records, drug addictions and trauma to cope with. But it isn’t the only central Ohio employer working to help rehabilitate women who were once trafficked.
In the past few years, other companies and nonprofit organizations have begun to hire women with records and pasts marred by solicitation, drug addiction and exploitation.
Companies that focus on hiring women who have survived human trafficking also include She Has a Name Cleaning Services and Eleventh Candle Co.
Employment is very important to women’s recovery, said Keturah DeChristopher, coordinator at Franklin County’s CATCH Court. CATCH, or Changing Actions to Change Habits, is a probation program that is specialized for victims of human trafficking and helps them get rehabilitated.
“It really is life-changing,” DeChristopher said of survivors getting a job. It shows women “you were made for more than prostitution.”
“It’s amazing how it boosts them.”
DeChristopher has a good relationship with Freedom a la Cart and She Has a Name Cleaning Services.
Jobs at those two organizations might be lessintimidating for women who haven’t had a job in a long time, or maybe never have, she said. They also understand the sometimes difficult schedules and other complications that can come with those in recovery.
“They’re so flexible and accommodating with (the women),” DeChristopher said. “They know your background. This employment is designed for you.”
The organizations also can be resume-builders for women with records to go on to other employment opportunities.
Baisden loves her job at “Freedom,” as she calls it, but she dreams of being a bail bondsman one day and, with help from her employer, is working to reach that goal.
Three women who have been through CATCH now work at the Franklin County Courthouse, DeChristopher said. One Freedom a la Cart veteran now works at a Downtown law office, said Paula Haines, Freedom a la Cart’s executive director.
“I want to see people live their lives to the fullest,” said Kelsie Johnson, managing director of She Has a Name. “Employment is a step in the right direction.”
The residential and commercial cleaning company employs 60 full-time staff members, with 90 percent of them survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence, said John Rush, president and CEO.
She Has a Name has a system to check in on employees and make sure they are doing OK, offers optional counseling at a reduced price and hosts life-skills classes, Johnson said.
“I think as far as the healing process, it’s viewing employment as a healing opportunity,” Johnson said. “It’s just treating everyone who comes in the door as a friend, as a co-worker, valuing their story but not hanging that over their head.”
Amber Runyon, founder and president of Eleventh Candle Co., said she believes the first part of helping the women heal is creating a safe place for them.
At the nonprofit candlemaking company, that safety is found in a warehouse on the East Side.
“We just take our women’s healing first and foremost,” Runyon said of her four employees, a number she keeps small on purpose.
“Healing happens in small groups of people,” she said.
Runyon is there every day, talking to the women, working with them and checking in on them. The women also get mandatory, free group and individual counseling, life-skills education and help building a community, she said.
Several things go into helping women get back on their feet after a lifetime, or just a few years, of being trafficked. But Haines said local employers and advocates know “restoration can’t happen without a job.”