Be a House Parent at The Refuge and Change the World

Are you looking to make a difference in the world? Do you have a passion for helping children heal and thrive? Then becoming a House Parent at The Refuge Ranch is more than just a job, it's a calling. You'll be an essential part of the multidisciplinary care team, providing the support and nurturing environment that child survivors of sex trafficking need to begin their healing journey. It's a challenging but incredibly rewarding experience that can have a profound and life-long impact on the life of a child. Answer the call today and become a House Parent at The Refuge.

For more information:

REFUGE Talks: Katie Kennemer with Kelly Wynne Handbags

Our latest REFUGE Talk was with Katie Kennemer, Head of Design and Production for Kelly Wynne, an Austin-based lifestyle brand specializing in quality handbags and accessories.

During her talk, Katie told the girls at The Refuge Ranch how she got her start in the fashion industry and took them behind the scenes on the Kelly Wynne design process, including showing a sneak peek of upcoming collections. Several of the girls in our care are very interested in fashion, and they even had some design suggestions for Katie to take back to her team!

Through their Beyond the Bag program, Kelly Wynne gives a portion of sales toward organizations that make a positive impact on women’s lives, including The Refuge Ranch. (Enter code REFUGERANCH at checkout and $5 of your purchase will go back to The Refuge.) Additionally, every girl who graduates from our program at The Refuge receives a handbag from Kelly Wynne to carry into her new life.

Kelly Wynne has been in our corner for a long time, and we were so honored to have a member of her team chat with the girls.

REFUGE Talks is a series of uplifting video conference calls between great performers, doers and thinkers and the girls in our care. We hope these segments from our series will not just inspire the girls recovering at The Refuge Ranch, but will help the whole world find a place of hope and healing.

Kendra Scott’s Exclusive Line of Jewelry Benefitting The Refuge

Kendra Scott’s new Masie Statement Necklace and Earrings launched today, and 20% of proceeds benefit The Refuge Ranch! These pieces are an exclusive line in the Kendra Scott Shop for Good giveback suite, which “helps women and children live their brightest, healthiest, and most empowered lives.”

From the very beginning, Kendra Scott has been an ardent supporter of our work at The Refuge Ranch. Before we welcomed the first girl at The Refuge Ranch, Kendra Scott supplied the cottages with creature comforts including yoga mats, nail polish, and picture frames to help make the ranch feel like home.

Since then, Kendra Scott has continuously stepped in to bolster our mission through sponsoring events, donating jewelry for the girls and for staff appreciation, and through financial contributions.

In the fall of 2019, the Kendra Scott design team led a Makers Class onsite at The Refuge Ranch. They walked the girls through the design process from inspiration to final product, and then the girls made their own original pieces.

Inspired by the colorful crafts made by the girls in our care, as well as the therapeutic, calming effect of intricate weaving and beading, the design team at Kendra Scott created an exclusive jewelry line benefitting The Refuge Ranch. The Masie suite brings together a rainbow of playful paracord and Kendra Scott’s iconic custom stones. The Masie Statement Necklace and Earrings are limited to 150 pieces each and 20% of proceeds benefit The Refuge for DMST™.

“The opportunity to not only spend time with the residents of The Refuge Ranch, but also design these styles that give back to their organization, represents one of the many things I love most about this brand: using our passions to support the communities we call home.” – Kendra Scott

Thank you, Kendra, for your endless support of the girls in our care!

3 Key Takeaways from the 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report

This month, the US Department of State released its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, one of the most comprehensive and reliable resources on human trafficking. The TIP Report is a great place to look to understand labor and sex trafficking and how the United States is combating it globally.

This year’s report includes important topics such as trafficking amidst a pandemic, the complexities of familial trafficking, the negative impacts of trafficking misinformation, and much more. Read the full report and check out our 3 key takeaways below.

3 Key Takeaways from the 2021 TIP Report

1) Trafficking and the COVID-19 Pandemic

“Pandemic mitigation efforts forced many people to shift online, including human traffickers. Online recruitment and grooming increased as children spent more time online for virtual learning due to school closures… [I]t should be noted that a portion of the increase resulted from the recirculation of sensationalized trafficking-related stories and misinformation on social media platforms... With enough time for traffickers to establish effective methods to recruit and groom their victims and insufficient avenues to prosecute various forms of online sexual exploitation, the pandemic accelerated and accrued the challenges to combating online sex trafficking.”

2) Familial Trafficking

“[Familial trafficking] is difficult to identify because it takes place within family networks and victimizes children, many of whom are under 12 years of age, who may not realize they are victims… In these cases, the trafficker may begin grooming the victim at an early age, using their close proximity to take advantage of the child’s developmental stage and inability to verbally express concerns or safety issues. One study estimates that the trafficker is a family member in about 31 percent of child sex trafficking cases. In these cases, the child’s inherent loyalty to and reliance on the family structure make familial trafficking difficult to identify and challenging to prosecute.”

3) Trafficking Misinformation

“For many people, human trafficking evokes images of women and children being forcibly taken and sold into sexual slavery by strangers, or of people locked in rooms or vehicles far from home. These images, however, do not capture the reality of most cases of sex and labor trafficking. Human trafficking is typically not so simple or salacious. Most victims are not kidnapped by strangers or secretive syndicates. Instead, it is often their neighbors, relatives, romantic partners, or other acquaintances who exploit them. Traffickers often use fraudulent, psychologically manipulative, or coercive recruitment methods so they need not kidnap or even physically restrain their victims… Individuals who wish to learn more about what human trafficking looks like in their own communities should seek out resources from established organizations and government agencies that use evidence-based solutions to address the crime.”

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Human trafficking is an under-reported, underground crime. Information on the subject is ever-changing, hard to obtain and often just a snapshot in time, or particular to a specific region. Always check your sources before sharing information. For some of the best currently available statistics on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking, see our DMST Statistics page.

Emerging from COVID-19

Thank you for supporting The Refuge for DMST™ through the COVID-19 pandemic. Still in our early years, we knew that this season of economic hardship, a full-stop in events and volunteering, and the heaviness that gripped our nation would either make or break us. It is through your sustaining support that we continue to offer the very best care to child survivors of sex trafficking.

Emerging from COVID-19

After more than a year of refining fire, our organization now emerges from the flames of the pandemic stronger than before. As the world begins to open, we step into the summer with great clarity and joy for what is to come.

Our staff and the girls in our care have been fully vaccinated, which allows for greater peace in our daily interactions and gives us opportunities to safely go off-site for field trips and activities. Summer school is in session and our summer programming, CAMP LIVE, is in full swing, including water days, art and music classes, karaoke and dance contests, driver’s ed, volleyball, mountain biking and more.

Over the last couple of months, we have joyfully reunited in person with many supporters. We have been invited to share our mission during various events hosted by community partners; volunteers are beginning to return to campus to teach enrichment classes and serve meals to our staff; and key partners have come onsite for tours, including local law enforcement, representatives from district attorneys’ offices and national foundations interested in replicating our model of care.

Fundraising events are on the horizon, beginning in October with Petals for a Purpose, a luncheon and floral design competition hosted at The Four Seasons Hotel in Austin. You can join us at this event by purchasing a table.

Innovation & Excellence

Caring for the most traumatized children in our community is a great challenge and a great joy, and we will always have room for growth and improvement. To that end, we are constantly evaluating our program and protocols, so we can continually offer the very best care to child survivors of sex trafficking.

Over the last several months, we made some key hires, including President & COO Danielle Owens and Chief Financial Officer Tracie Stookesberry, who served for 6 years as the CFO at YMCA of Austin. The expertise of these important organizational leaders allows us to continue innovating and carrying out our mission of hope and healing with excellence.

In May, we rolled out a new staff schedule that gives our around-the-clock, direct care staff more support, including three consecutive days off to maintain a healthy work/life balance, as well as overlapping schedules during shift changes for increased communication between staff. Through this new schedule, we have improved retention and promoted a greater sense of unity among our staff.

We also revamped our existing model of care to look more directly at each individual girl’s motivations and needs. By making our approach even more girl-centered, we better meet each girl where she is to build an environment that feels safe and secure to her, which increases her autonomy and drive to achieve the goals set out in her therapeutic plan.

Thank you for sustaining us on this journey! We have triumphantly emerged out of a grey season and into a bright and beautiful summer, and we invite you to look ahead with us as we offer care to many more survivors.

Supporter Spotlight: Our Amazing Church Community

From the beginning, the Central Texas church community has extended love and enduring support to The Refuge for DMST™, and we would not be the organization we are today without our wonderful church partners.

The following are just a few recent examples of the way so many churches in the area have encircled us with support in much the same way we encircle the girls in our care. Through the provision of financial resources, prayer, volunteers, and sharing our mission of hope and healing, these churches have been essential to our success in providing the very best care to child survivors of sex trafficking.

Bannockburn Baptist Church

Bannockburn Church has been in our corner since 2018. Over the last three years, they have showered our organization in endless prayers, shared about our mission consistently with their congregation, invited us to speaking opportunities, and donated everything from quilts and Christmas décor to feminine products and first aid kits.

Bethany Lutheran MOPS

The Mothers of Preschoolers group at Bethany Lutheran Church in Austin has also supported us for over three years. They have consistently donated clothing and needed items from our collections drive page and they were the first group to host a Dove Tile Project painting party back in 2018.

Last month, they collected and bundled 15 beautiful baskets full of summer items. The towels, swimsuits, sunscreen, sandals, and water activities were used by the girls right away, as they participate in CAMP LIVE, our summer programming at The Refuge Ranch. Thank you for helping us make this a wonderful summer for the girls in our care!

Most recently, they hosted a collection drive for our spring cleaning needs at The Refuge Ranch. Over the month of May, their congregation collected over  $1,500 in paper goods, trash bags, laundry detergent, and more. Thank you for coordinating this wonderful drive!

St. Luke’s on the Lake Episcopal Church

Our first meeting with St. Lukes's on the Lake Episcopal Church was a Zoom meeting last year with their Daughters of the King group. Right away, the women we met with were eager to begin a collections drive and to partner with us long-term.

They hosted a month-long collection drive at their church and gathered needed items, including cleaning supplies, vitamins, clothes, and Nike running shoes that we know the girls will be excited to see in The Boutique at The Refuge Ranch.

Thank you to these amazing churches and our many other church partners for helping us make The Refuge Ranch a place of hope and healing for the girls in our care!

Support the S.M.A.R.T. Act

We need your help in calling for support of the SMART Act during the current session of the Texas State Legislature.

What is the SMART Act?

The SMART Act (Standardizing Minimum Age Requirements in Texas) aims to raise the minimum age of employment in sexually oriented businesses (SOBs) from 18 to 21 and increase the criminal penalty for establishments that do not comply.

Strip clubs are often an entry point into “the life” for victims of trafficking and SOBs are often even complicit in sex trafficking. By raising the minimum age and creating harsher penalties for those who break the law, we can reduce the commercial sexual exploitation of minors in our state.

Watch KVUE’s coverage of advocates' efforts to support The SMART Act.

The SMART Act has seen early success during the current legislative session. So far, all versions of the bill that have been heard have been passed unanimously. This is much improved from the 2017 and 2019 legislative sessions, when this bill was first filed.

Status of bills that include The SMART Act language:

• HB 1655 – passed out of the House Committee on Licensing & Administrative Procedures (LAP) unanimously and is waiting in Calendars Committee to be scheduled for a floor debate/vote. This is the only version that calls for "everyone on premises" to be 21, including customers.

• HB 3520 – passed unanimously out of LAP and waiting in Calendars Committee.

• SB 766 – passed unanimously out of the Senate Committee on Jurisprudence and was referred to the local and uncontested calendar. Should receive a vote on the Senate floor this week.

• SB 315 – same status as SB 766.

• SB 1036 – waiting to be heard in the Senate Committee on Jurisprudence. This is the Senate anti-trafficking omnibus bill, which will add The SMART Act language.

How to Help Now

Contact Speaker Phelan’s office and express support for HB 1655 and HB 3520 to make it to the floor for a vote. Emphasize how important the SMART Act is for protecting young women from sexual assault.

Phone: (512) 463-1000
Email: dade.phelan@house.texas.gov

“We are here to fight the scourge of human trafficking and this is one more tool in the toolkit to protect our vulnerable youth.”

— Rep. Shawn Thierry, primary author

How to Help Going Forward

To follow along for more updates on the SMART Act, request to join the Texas SMART Act Army Facebook page.

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Want to receive email updates on how you can advocate for child survivors of sex trafficking and support The Refuge? Join our Advocacy Team for resources on raising awareness and sharing The Refuge mission. We’ll send you news articles, statistics, book recommendations, and social media graphics once per month.

Supporter Spotlight: Thank You to These Supporters

We are so encouraged by the many individuals and businesses who go the extra mile to support The Refuge. Here’s a roundup of a few of the organizations that have partnered with us recently.

I Support the Girls

I Support the Girls is an organization that collects and distributes essential items for women experiencing homelessness or distress. We first connected with them over a year ago and received a generous donation of bras for the girls in our care. Last month, they came to us with another donation, this time of 300 bras, 200 pairs of underwear, thousands of menstrual products, as well as makeup and masks. These essential products will go so far in our care of girls recovering at The Refuge Ranch.

Town Lake Chapter of The Links, Inc.

The Links, Inc. is an international service organization that focuses on empowering African American youth and communities. We’ve had a long and deep relationship with The Links, and recently the Town Lake Chapter of The Links partnered with us to donate items listed on our In-Kind Needs page. Members of the chapter donated beauty supplies, cleaning supplies, home goods, and printers. We are so grateful for their enthusiasm and support of our mission!

DISCO Cares

DISCO Cares, the philanthropic arm of the technology company DISCO, organized a curbside technology event to give laptops to several of their non-profit partners, including SAFE Alliance, Code2College, Austin Urban Technology Movement, and The Refuge. During the event, staff got to share with DISCO staff and the other non-profits present about our mission of hope and healing at The Refuge.

DISCO Cares donated 10 laptops to The Refuge that will help our team out at the ranch. We are so grateful to be included in this group of incredible local non-profit partners!

If these stories of generosity inspired you to partner further with The Refuge, fill out our Join a Team survey to receive email updates on current needs and opportunities specific to your interests.

Mother's Day Gift Guide

Support The Refuge with These gifts for Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is around the corner! If you’re looking for a gift for a mom figure in your life, consider shopping from one of these incredible organizations that support our mission of hope and healing at The Refuge.

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Kelly Wynne

Kelly Wynne is an Austin-based lifestyle brand specializing in quality handbags and accessories. Founder Kelly Wynne Ferguson is an enthusiastic supporter of our mission at The Refuge. Through their Dare to Donate program, Kelly Wynne donates a portion of every handbag sold to sponsor a scholarship for a girl at The Refuge Ranch. Additionally, every girl who graduates from our program at The Refuge receives a handbag from Kelly Wynne to carry into her new life.

Enter code REFUGERANCH at checkout and $5 of the purchase will go back to The Refuge!

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Shop Darling

Shop Darling is a family-owned small business that shares messages of encouragement through cozy clothing. The clothing line is an extension of founder Jessi Afshin’s My Darling Diary, a platform for sharing scripture and encouragement on Instagram. Shop Darling financially supports our mission at The Refuge and donates sweatshirts and accessories to The Boutique at The Refuge Ranch, so the girls can pick out their own items of comfort and inspiration.

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The Cultured Carrot

The Cultured Carrot was founded by two Austin moms who wanted to find a way to incorporate the health benefits of fermentation into their families’ plates daily. The Cultured Carrot’s line of fermented dressings are perfect for salads, marinades, and sauces. The business just launched in March, and you can shop their dressings online or at the Mueller Farmer’s Market on Sunday afternoons. We are grateful they chose our organization to partner with for community giving.

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The Refuge Store

You can also support our mission directly by shopping from our store. Each hat, sweatshirt, and mug makes a great conversation starter for helping to share our mission of hope and healing!

End Prostitution Arrests For Child Survivors

Did you know 19 states can still arrest and charge child survivors of sex trafficking with the crime of prostitution?

Child sex trafficking is the only form of abuse where the victim can go to jail for the very crime committed against them. And tragically, Texas is one of those states that still charge children with prostitution.

“Children are not prostitutes—point blank, period. Any child who is being sexually exploited by an adult (for a fee or otherwise) should be protected from the adult perpetrator.”

— Rep. Shawn Thierry

Support HB 162

If passed, Representative Thierry’s House Bill 162 will put an end to prostitution arrests for children in the state of Texas and will ensure that law enforcement must return the child to their parent, a local service provider, or place them in the care of the Department of Family and Protective Services.

The Refuge joined advocates and survivors to testify in support of HB 162.

How to Help

You can help advocate for HB 162 by contacting the State Representatives on the Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee and let them know of your support. Utilize the sample email and contact list below!

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Dear Representative,

I'm writing today to respectfully request that you vote in support of CSHB 162 and for the protection of child sexual assault victims. I believe that it is the moral responsibility of the Texas Legislature to support these vulnerable children and to protect them from conviction of a crime that they cannot consent to. Children are not prostitutes. Trafficked children are victims, not perpetrators and to treat them as such is an egregious miscarriage of justice—it places the blame on the victim instead of the trafficker. We must protect our children from exploitation and CSHB 162 does just that. It rescues child sexual abuse victims and provides essential intervention and support.

I thank you for your work, and again ask that you stand in support of protecting our vulnerable children. Please vote CSHB 162 favorably out of committee!

Thank you,
[your name]

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Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee Members:

1. Chairwoman Victoria Neave Victoria.Neave@house.texas.gov
   Office Phone: (512) 463-0244

2. Vice Chair Valoree Swanson Valoree.Swanson@house.texas.gov
   Office Phone: (512) 463-0572

3. Representative David Cook David.Cook@house.texas.gov
   Office Phone: (512) 463-0374

4. Representative James Frank James.Frank@house.texas.gov
   Office Phone: (512) 463-0534

5. Representative Jeff Leach Jeff.Leach@house.texas.gov
   Office Phone: (512) 463-0544

6. Representative Ana-Maria Ramos Ana-Maria.Ramos@house.texas.gov
   Office Phone: (512) 463-0454

7. Representative James Talarico James.Talarico@house.texas.gov
   Office Phone: (512) 463-0670

8. Representative Cody Vasut Cody.Vasut@house.texas.gov
   Office Phone: (512) 463-0564

9. Representative Gene Wu Gene.Wu@house.texas.gov
   Office Phone: (512) 463-0492

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Want to receive email updates on how you can advocate for child survivors of sex trafficking and support The Refuge? Join our Advocacy Team for resources on raising awareness and sharing The Refuge mission. We’ll send you news articles, statistics, book recommendations, and social media graphics once per month.

Forging Ahead

Thanks to your ardent support, we are able to provide the best care in the nation for child survivors of sex trafficking. Now in our third year of operation, we are eager to share with you our lessons and successes over the past year, as well as an exciting organizational change that will further advance our mission of hope and healing for child survivors of sex trafficking.

Our New President & COO

As we seek to simultaneously strengthen our model at The Refuge Ranch and expand our mission beyond Texas, it became clear that we needed an experienced, forthright and compassionate leader to inspire continued innovation and excellence among our staff.

Amazingly, after a six-month, nationwide search and consideration of over 150 candidates, we discovered that the best candidate to join our team as President & Chief Operating Officer already lived in Austin.

Danielle Owens joined our team on February 1st and is already making a profound impact on our staff. She comes to The Refuge for DMST™ from her most recent position as Chief Program Officer of LifeWorks, where she optimized programs and community partnerships to help youth experiencing homelessness achieve self-sufficiency. Her experience and expertise will be a tremendous asset to our organization as we forge ahead.

Brooke Crowder will remain serving as the CEO of The Refuge for DMST, working closely with Danielle over the next few months, then transitioning to focus on opportunities to expand our mission beyond Texas.

As our model at The Refuge proves strong, other states, nonprofit organizations and foundations want to emulate our success. This expansion of our mission and the creation of more healing communities for trafficked children around our country is made possible thanks to your unwavering support.

2020 Impact Report

“For me, 2020 became the fire that refined our organization and proved our model was strong.”

— Brooke Crowder, Founder & CEO

There is no doubt that 2020 has been a challenging year for all of us. At The Refuge for DMST™, it is not part of our DNA to get comfortable or to think we have all the answers.

We continually strive to grow, improve our processes, and find new ways to bring our community together to care for our most vulnerable children.

In this, our second annual Impact Report, we want to show you our mission in action, how our work endured and adapted during the pandemic, plus a glimpse of our bright future ahead.

We hope you will take the time to read our report and pass it along to your community.

Easter at The Refuge Ranch

We had a wonderful Easter weekend at The Refuge Ranch, full of games and fellowship.

The morning on Good Friday was peaceful as the girls enjoyed their day off of school. In the afternoon, we set out blankets for a picnic of sandwiches, chips and cookies. Together, the girls enjoyed the beautiful weather and played a game of 9-square.

After lunch, we had an Easter egg hunt. Staff members, including one dressed at the Easter bunny, hid eggs in trees and light fixtures, under couch cushions—even inside a popped volleyball! Some eggs had candy inside, some were filled with confetti, and special golden eggs were filled with coupons that could be redeemed for prizes, including trips to get ice cream or to pick out clothing items in The Boutique. One special egg had coupons for an entire cottage to redeem together, including a donut breakfast, a movie day, and a pizza night. The two girls who found the egg for their cottage were ecstatic. All the girls had a great time chasing one another, cracking cascarones on each other’s heads, and searching high and low for the eggs.

On Saturday, the girls hung out with their cottage mates and made bird’s nest cookies with Rice Krispies and mini-Cadbury eggs.

The girls received Easter baskets donated by Brunch Babes and Wesley United Methodist Church. The beautiful baskets were filled with sweet treats, games, hair care products, and more. Our staff received baskets of skincare products donated by the Catholic Diocese of Austin. We are so grateful for the help not only in making this weekend special for the girls but also for showing appreciation to our staff!

Easter baskets donated by Brunch Babes

Easter card from the Wesley United Methodist Church Women’s Mission Unit

Girls who attended chapel on Sunday spent time worshipping with our staff and learning about how the resurrection of Jesus brings us into restoration with God. Overall, it was a beautiful and peaceful Easter weekend at The Refuge Ranch!

Spring Break at The Refuge Ranch

We just wrapped up Spring Break at The Refuge Ranch, and it was a wonderful, fun-filled time off from school. Each day we had activities planned and led by different staff members, plus the girls had plenty of free time to rest and reset.

Thank you to Leslie Mellenbruch for donating to the girls’ activity fund to supply games and activities.

Throughout the week, the girls went zip lining, tie-dyed t-shirts, took a painting class, learned to make homemade tortillas, and went to the driving range with our chaplain. We even had an inflatable water slide on-site at the ranch!

The most raved-about activity was a Cupcake Wars competition judged by our staff members. The girls competed in teams with their cottage mates and let their creativity run wild. One cottage decorated their cupcakes with blue flowers, inspired by The Refuge colors, and another cottage used fondant to bring their bright yellow flowers to life. One of the girls made gluten-free cupcakes for staff members with dietary restrictions, and she called her sprinkle-heavy theme “Welcome to Cupcake Land.”

On Sunday, the girls had a movie night to wind down before class started back at our UT Charter School on Monday. We are so grateful for this relaxing week that gave the girls time to express their creativity and to bond with our staff and one another.

Supporter Spotlight: Students Making a Difference

Lately, we have been inspired by many young supporters who feel a deep passion for our mission and have found creative ways to serve the girls in our care. Here are a few stories of students who have gone above and beyond to serve girls living at The Refuge Ranch!

Eagle Scout Builds Benches for The Refuge

Eagle Scout Coley Cowden recently built settles—benches that easily convert into picnic tables—for The Refuge Ranch as part of his Eagle Scout Service project. In his classes at Regents School of Austin, Coley and his classmates learned about settles while studying the pioneers, and Coley had seen the practical piece of furniture in action at the nature sanctuary where he often goes for school activities and scout meetings. He thought they would be a wonderful way for girls to be able to enjoy outdoor spaces all over the fifty-acre Refuge Ranch.

After Coley contacted us with the idea, he drafted plans, sought approval from his scoutmaster, started fundraising for the project, and rallied fellow scouts to assist with building and welding. He painted the settles bright turquoise to match the Adirondak chairs that sit on our cottage porches, built and donated by Girl Scout Liliana Mechura in 2018 for her Silver Award project.

Through his fundraising, Coley was able to provide us with six beautiful settles as well as a generous monetary donation. We are grateful to Coley and his parents, Heidi and Duke, for their commitment to supporting The Refuge!

Legacy Church Student Ministry

The Legacy Church Student Ministry recently donated bundles of towels, Tupperware, hangers, and laundry detergent for the cottages at The Refuge Ranch. “Instead of just hearing or learning about this, I’m actually able to do something by giving things to the girls,” said one of the students who helped drop off donations.

The Legacy Church Student Ministry, made up of 6th through 12th grade students, has faithfully supported our mission for a few years through painting Dove Tiles and praying often for the girls in our care.

Last year, they donated eleven pairs of riding boots for the Equine program at The Refuge. They raised the money for the boots through their student-run drink and snack shop for their Tuesday night gatherings. Every month, the profit from selling drinks and snacks to fellow students goes to the organizations their ministry supports. Last February, they decided to designate the funds to purchase a specific item from our In-Kind Needs list, and the students settled on riding boots. They were so eager to support our Equine program, that they ended up raising four times their monthly average, allowing them to purchase eleven brand new pairs of boots for girls at The Refuge Ranch!

Thank you to the staff and volunteers at Legacy Church, including Reyn Harpole and Jamie Lynn, for helping foster a passion for our mission among your students. We are grateful for your sustained support over the years!

Regents Students Organize Collection Drive

A class of 10th graders from Regents School of Austin recently organized a socially distanced collection drive in the school’s Travis County neighborhood. They stapled information about The Refuge to paper bags, with lists of our needed items and instructions on when they would pick up donations from front porches, and distributed them throughout the neighborhood.

On Monday, the students ventured back out to collect the donations and gathered enough cleaning supplies and paper products to fill a large truck and two SUVs. The students estimated that they walked over four miles around the neighborhood collecting the bags of goods. They listened raptly as one of our staff members spoke about our work at The Refuge and the opportunity we have to help girls their own age find independence and reclaim their lives.

We were fortunate to have volunteers from The Lakeway Church present to help us pick up and deliver these donations to The Refuge Ranch. A special thank you to Amy Lauer and Jennifer Dierking for helping coordinate this drive.

Thank you to all of these students for going the extra mile—or four—to serve the girls in our care. It is encouraging to see how you are stirred to action to serve your peers. Our work would not be possible without your passion and prayers!

Valentine's Day at The Refuge Ranch

Valentine’s Day is one of our favorite holidays at The Refuge Ranch—we use this day of love as an excuse to dress to the nines, celebrate sisterhood, and lovingly serve a formal meal to the girls in our care.

On Valentine’s Day, residents and House Moms at The Refuge Ranch received themed gift baskets, donated by Brunch Babes and Lakeway Church Women’s Ministry, including makeup, nail polish, candy and other sweet treats.

The girls and staff took time to write notes of love and encouragement for each other on over 300 handmade cards. The cards were decorated by the NXP Semiconductors Women’s Leadership Team, the Wooten neighborhood group, and troops from the Girl Scouts of Central Texas Sunnyside Service Unit. Thank you for creating these beautiful cards!

Girl Scout Troop 42116

NXP Semiconductors Women’s Leadership Team

Over 300 handmade Valentine cards

In the evening on Valentine’s Day, Heidi Moga and Kelli Knight, former House Moms who still volunteer to serve the girls, planned to host our second annual Valentine’s Day dinner in The Chapel. The winter storm complicated our plans, but our staff and volunteers were determined and they executed a flawless dinner two weeks later. (Read heartwarming stories from our frozen week here.)

The week leading up to the dinner was full of excitement as each girl received a brand-new prom dress from Foster Angels of Central Texas. On Saturday night, the girls donned their sparkly dresses and high heels and arrived at The Chapel to find it filled with red and pink balloons, flowers, and flickering (flameless) candles.

Each place was set with a red heart placemat, a cloth napkin in a napkin ring, and a fork for each course. “I’ve never seen anything like this except in movies,” one girl remarked as she took her place at the table.

Staff and volunteers served the girls three courses, including soup and salad, a sorbet palate cleanser, Chicken Cordon Bleu, and mini bundt cakes for dessert. The girls were primed with a mini etiquette lesson, and many of them laughed as they reminded one another which fork to use and how to signal they were finished with their course.

The girls joyfully took turns posing for pictures in their prom dresses. Many returned to our photo backdrop repeatedly throughout the night, with another staff member or friend in tow each time, so they would have photos with every single person to mark the occasion. It was an evening of pure delight all around, and we cannot wait to continue the tradition again next year.

Heartwarming Stories from a Frozen Week at The Refuge Ranch

Thank you, everyone, for checking on the girls and staff out at The Refuge Ranch. Your concern warmed us all during a week full of challenges.

There are 29.4 million people living in Texas and every one of us now share a common story of survival when the polar vortex dipped down to the Lone Star State last week. Of these 29.4 million stories, this one is ours and we want to share how miracles big and small kept us going during the storm.

Snow-covered parking lot at The Refuge Ranch.

As the temperatures dropped on Monday and rolling blackouts began in Bastrop County, we were intermittently out of power and hot water at the ranch. We knew our food supply wouldn’t last through the week, and we also realized our normal pharmacy would be unable to fill the girls’ medications. So, we put out a call to our board members and medical contacts to see if they might be able to help.

Lakeway Police Chief Todd Radford, Holly Mills Gardner, Pat Trecker and Travis County Commissioner Ann Howard loading 23 cases of large bottles of water for The Refuge. Thank you to Richard’s Rainwater, Taylor O’Neil, Drew Oetting, and Creighton Honeck for making this water donation possible!

In a matter of hours, we had a “fishes and loaves” miracle on our hands. Board Member Tracy Steinle contacted neighbors who eagerly donated coolers full of food, even though they no power and running water. Austin Ridge Bible Church, one of our church partners, gathered $1,700 worth of groceries. Others donated cases of water, and still others made financial contributions toward our immediate needs following the storm. Through the support of many, we were able to get the girls’ prescriptions transferred to another pharmacy in Austin. By the grace of God, we found a doctor who was braving the ice to travel to Bastrop for work, and she was able to deliver all the food and medication by Wednesday afternoon.

Austin Ridge Bible Church donated over $1,700 in groceries.

Thank you to Megan Niles for mobilizing your church community!

On the second day of rolling blackouts, one of the girls who loves to cook devised a plan to prepare a hot meal for everyone. She prepped everything while the power was out and raced to cook when it came back on. Working through the intermittent power outages, she was able to prepare two trays of chicken enchiladas, rice, and beans so that everyone was able to have a hot meal that nourished body and soul.

Frozen sidewalks at The Refuge Ranch.

On Thursday, our staff, many of whom stayed overnight through multiple shifts, worked tirelessly to clear the pathways of ice. By Friday, the world began to thaw. The resourceful young chef helped inventory all the donated food and prepared a feast for breakfast, including eggs, sausage, hash browns, and homemade tortillas. We began to put things back in order by washing clothes and dishes for the first time all week. As a staff, we debriefed what we learned so that we be even better prepared for next time we have an event that interrupts power and water.

All in all, this last week was an opportunity that showed us what are made of: the girls were all safe and well supported by staff who stepped up to make sure that there was no interruption in care; all staff put down their roles and picked up whatever hat was needed to keep things moving forward; we faced the challenges with smiles, humor and the knowledge there was nothing we couldn’t achieve if we worked together; and the community that supports the mission of The Refuge stepped up again to make sure we had what we needed to succeed. This last week showed us the collective strength of our community and our team.

We are blessed and grateful for everyone who makes this healing ranch possible every day, and especially during this week of challenges.

Supporter Spotlight: We are grateful for these supporters!

The generosity and creativity of our community are unparalleled, and we want to spotlight a few of the incredible supporters who bless our organization!

Birthday Fun Run Fundraiser

Two months before her birthday, Austin resident Grace Salas sent us an email to tell us she wanted to support our mission through a virtual fun run. Though she had never planned a fundraiser before, she was struck by our mission to bring hope and healing to survivors of sex trafficking and wanted to use her birthday as a way to champion our cause among her friends and family.

Grace created an event sign-up page, designed t-shirts, and asked her community to join her, and on December 19th over 50 people participated in her socially-distanced, virtual Run for The Refuge, raising over $3,000.

Thank you, Grace, for not only using your passion to fundraise, but also for spreading the word about our mission to all of your friends and family. Through your bold action, you mobilized 50 new advocates for The Refuge!

Bannockburn Church Collection Drive

In late October, we started preparing for new arrivals at The Refuge Ranch by asking for home goods needed for the bedrooms, living rooms, and kitchens in our cottages. Bannockburn Church, one of our wonderful church partners, heard about our Stock Our Cottages initiative and called on their congregation to start collecting bundles of needed items. Together, they collected over $4,000 worth of bedding, towels, pillows, home décor, paper towels and other items needed to warmly welcome new girls to The Refuge Ranch.

Bannockburn Church has supported us since before we opened in 2018. Over the years, they have covered our organization in endless prayers, donations, quilts, and more. We are so grateful for their sustained support.

Foster Angels partnership

Foster Angels of Central Texas is a nonprofit organization that ensures children in foster care have their basic needs met and have opportunities to thrive. For every girl in the care of social services who comes to The Refuge Ranch, Foster Angels provides us with gift cards to meet some of their immediate needs.

We use these gift cards to supply Welcome Kits to new arrivals, including a backpack, journal, desk calendar, bathrobe, laundry basket, night light, and mp3 player for self-regulation. Providing these simple items helps each girl feel established in her new environment.

It is a joy to work with Foster Angels because they are quick to act when we have a need, and they remember us when they have more to give. In September, Foster Angels reached out to us to let us know they had a surplus of new shoes that needed a home. They donated 40 pairs of shoes to our boutique, and many of the girls were thrilled to receive a pair of on-trend slide sandals. We are grateful to work with an organization that is so proactive in using its resources to meet needs, big and small.

We are endlessly thankful for the generosity and initiative demonstrated by each of these supporters. As we always say, The Refuge Ranch was built by community, and it will be sustained by community. Thank you for being active members of our community!

If these stories of generosity inspired you to partner further with The Refuge, fill out our Join a Team survey to receive email updates on current needs and opportunities.

Take Action During National Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month

This January is the eleventh annual National Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month. At The Refuge, we believe there is no rescue without restoration. We hope to see real change in the lives of individual survivors, and we want your help advocating for restoration to be a priority this January and beyond. Whether you’ve known about sex trafficking for years or are just beginning to understand this hidden crime, here are three ways you can take action today:

1) Learn about sex trafficking

A first step in understanding what each child needs to recover is learning how the commercial sexual exploitation of children occurs. While no two children have the same story, these resources provide helpful narratives for understanding this crime.

Child sex trafficking is an under-reported, underground crime. It is important to remember that the data on the subject is ever-changing, hard to obtain, and often just a snapshot in time, or particular to a specific region. But the children it affects are real, and they need people like you to be their advocates.

“Selling Girls”

This five-part video series was produced by KHOU-TV for Tegna stations in 2017 and gives an informative overview of what child sex trafficking is and how it happens in the United States.

“Children are vulnerable just by virtue of being children... In the heady mix of hormones, wanting to belong, confusing messages about love and sex, and a desire to be independent, it’s easy to lure an otherwise well-adjusted fourteen-year-old girl into a meeting, into a car, into a bed. Pimps understand child psychology and adolescent development well enough to know the dynamics at play and can skillfully manipulate most children, regardless of socioeconomic background, prior abuse, or parenting, into a situation where they can be forced or coerced into being sold for sex.”

– Rachel Lloyd, Girls Like Us

“Sold Out”

This eight-part article series from the Texas Tribune chronicles how the crusade against sex trafficking in Texas has left child victims behind. Read about The Refuge in the final segment regarding solutions.

Girls Like Us by Rachel Lloyd

In her memoir, survivor-leader Rachel Lloyd, founder of NYC-based organization GEMS, breaks down the system of commercial sexual exploitation as she shares personal stories and stories of girls she has mentored.

2) Watch Circle of Hope: A Special Tour of The Refuge RAnch

Circle of Hope is our first-time-ever open-house tour of The Refuge Ranch. Learn about our programs and our commitment to providing the very best care to child survivors of sex trafficking while we tour you through our beautiful 50-acre property. During the 30-minute film, you will learn about The Refuge Circle of Care™, our seven-component treatment plan that is uniquely tailored to fit the needs of each girl. Help make restoration a national priority by learning about our program!

3) Share what you’ve learned

The most effective advocacy is sharing what you’ve learned with someone you know! Keep the momentum going by telling those in your community about sex trafficking and about The Refuge mission of hope and healing for survivors.

Here are some ways you can share:

• Call a family member to tell them what you learned.

• Send the link to the resource you found most helpful to a friend.

• Host a Zoom watch-party for Circle of Hope: A Special Tour of The Refuge Ranch.

• Post on social media. Resources are available in our Social Media Kit!

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Thank you for being an advocate in your community! The best way you can support our work of rest and restoration for child survivors of sex trafficking is by committing to a monthly gift.

Would you like to hear about regular opportunities to support The Refuge? Join a team to receive email updates on our most urgent needs and how you can get involved!

Beyond Awareness on National Human Trafficking Awareness Day

Today, January 11th, is the 14th annual National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

January is the eleventh annual National Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month.

After 14 years of raising awareness, it’s time to start talking more about providing restorative care for the survivors. At The Refuge, we believe there is no rescue without restoration. Awareness without action is like crying "FIRE!" in a crowded movie theater -- and then everyone remains in their seats.

Click to watch Circle of Hope video!

If you’d like to go beyond simple awareness and take a deeper dive with front line care organizations like ours that are making a difference with comprehensive services for real trafficking survivors, please watch Circle of Hope, a short film about The Refuge Ranch at https://therefugeaustin.org/video.

If you would like to do more than wear blue again this year, please SHARE this video everywhere and let’s get people talking about providing restorative care for survivors.

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TAKE ACTION: Activate your network, help change the national narrative

When we first broadcast Circle of Hope last fall, a national magazine and nightly network news show wanted to share our mission to millions of people. We were thrilled because outside of the residents, staff members and advocates directly involved in the survivors' care, very few people have been inside our gates since we opened. However, both media outlets wanted to interview a “victim.”

We explained that we never ask the children in our care to participate in any promotional photos, written testimonials or pixelated videos. They couldn’t consent to being trafficked and they can’t consent to be interviewed about it either. The power balance is off and way too many would agree to talk about what happened to them, even though re-living everything will be triggering. We won’t further exploit the exploited.

Telling this story of children who need long-term care has always been a challenge, especially more so now during a pandemic and massive social upheaval that affects everyone.

So, we are asking you to help by sharing our video and telling all your friends on National Human Trafficking Awareness Day that it’s time to go beyond simple awareness. Ask your friends to pause their evening Netflix binge for just thirty minutes to find out why trafficking survivors need more than awareness – they need restorative care and long-term therapy. If the video moves your friends to act, please direct them to our website, where we have opportunities to help survivors now, and as we grow and expand, many more in the months and years to come.

Please share this video: https://therefugeaustin.org/video

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TAKE ACTION: Double your donation

Did you know that thousands of companies offer matching gift programs to encourage philanthropy among their employees? By simply filling out this easy form, you may be able to double, or even triple the impact of your gift.

If you gave to The Refuge in the last six months, many employers will match retroactively.

Does your employer participate in gift matching?

Christmas Festivities at The Refuge Ranch

This week, we are celebrating our third Christmas at The Refuge Ranch! We feel so blessed by the community that helps us to provide the girls with a Christmas they will cherish forever. Through your generous donations, we have been able to decorate the ranch, give wonderful gifts to the girls, and fill the time off from school with fun activities.

All of the cottages at The Refuge Ranch are decorated with trees and ornaments from Girls Energized to Make a Difference.

Amy Younkman of Brunch Babes delivering handmade stockings

We know that the holidays are challenging for many, including the residents in our care, and it is through your support that we are able to help the girls feel at home during the holiday season.

Christmas festivities began a few weeks ago when the girls decorated each cottage at the ranch with Christmas trees and ornaments provided by Girls Energized to Make a Difference, a service organization made up of Westlake High School students. These Christmas trees and ornaments will be cherished at the ranch for years to come! Handmade stockings filled with goodies were provided by Brunch Babes, who provide beautiful gift sets for the girls every holiday.

Two weeks ago, Santa made a surprise visit to The Refuge Ranch! Though the girls are old enough to figure out that Santa was really our Director of Human Resources, they certainly got a kick out of Newton, our favorite therapy horse turned Instagram-influencer, joining in on the fun as a stand-in reindeer.

Santa and his new reindeer, Newton!

A winter village of gingerbread houses.

Winter Break officially kicked off last Friday, and there has been a flurry of Christmas crafting at The Refuge Ranch since, including sweater, ornament, gingerbread house and cookie decorating. Thank you to Flourish and the Austin chapter of Beta Sigma Phi for providing an endless supply of crafts and fun activities that have helped build excitement for Christmas Day!

Thank you to the many other organizations and individuals who have helped us prepare for Christmas at The Refuge Ranch—to Marjie Walters and the Quintos Family for donating matching pajamas for the girls to wear on Christmas Eve, to Trihn Pham for providing beauty supply kits for the girls, to Johnnie Harris and friends for donating gift cards that helped us decorate every inch of the ranch and provide meals for our staff working over the holiday, to Courtney Thomas for providing gift baskets for the girls and for our wonderful staff, to volunteers from The Lakeway Church who helped us shuttle seven SUV’s full of donations out to the ranch and to the countless others whose support makes our work possible year-round.

And finally, a big thank you to Erskine & Blackburn for providing the girls with items from their personal wish lists for the third year in a row. We cannot wait to see the joy on the girls’ faces when they open their presents on Christmas morning.

We are so grateful for the many blessings you have given us this year. Merry Christmas!

Flourish dropping off Christmas crafts at our Austin office.

Beta Sigma Phi donating $2,893 worth of in-kind and cash donations.

Volunteers from The Lakeway Church shuttling items to The Refuge Ranch.

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Have you seen our Christmas Special? This time last year, a team of thirty-five angels moved Heaven and literal Earth and accomplished a miracle the day before Christmas. Please watch and share!