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:

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.

$50,000 Match in Support of Circle of Hope Tour

Tonight, Thursday the 15th, at 7PM CDT, we will be rebroadcasting Circle of Hope, our special, online tour of The Refuge Ranch. If you missed the chance to see our mission in action during the first showing, we hope you’ll be able to join for the rebroadcast.

The Refuge for DMST Board of Directors is matching all donations made in support of Circle of Hope, up to $50,000. If you can’t make it to the online event, we hope you will still donate now to help us meet our $50,000 match.

Encore: Circle of Hope Rebroadcast on Oct 15!

an evening showing of our online tour

The overwhelmingly warm responses we received for our Circle of Hope online tour of The Refuge Ranch has encouraged us to rebroadcast the event. Many who watched the first showing wrote that they wanted to share our mission with their family and friends. Others emailed to ask for an evening showing. Thank you to everyone who made the first online event a success, and for those who inspired this rebroadcast!
 

Join us for rebroadcast of Circle of Hope, an online tour of The Refuge Ranch on October 15th at 7:00PM CDT.

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Help Spread the Word

If you’ve just recently joined our community, you may not be aware that The Refuge Ranch opened in August of 2018 to meet a crucial gap in care for victims of the fastest growing crime in the world. With 48 beds, The Refuge Ranch is the largest long-term, live-in rehabilitation community for child survivors of sex trafficking in the United States. Though the ranch is based in Bastrop County, TX, we receive referrals from all over the country.

Besides the many requests for a rebroadcast of the Circle of Hope, we heard several variants of this response:  “Wow, I’ve been following The Refuge from the beginning and I had no idea that your therapeutic programs were so a.) awesome; b.) comprehensive; c.) carefully designed to meet the unique needs of the girls!”

If you missed the first showing, we hope you will join us for the rebroadcast, where you can see our mission in action. During the video tour you won’t see any actual residents, but you can see the everyday hope and healing of The Refuge Ranch.

If you watched the first broadcast and it inspired you, please invite your friends to the second broadcast on Oct 15th!

Click and the email will auto-fill in all the details. Just add your friends' email addresses!

THE REFUGE FOR DMST PRESENTS “CIRCLE OF HOPE: A SPECIAL TOUR OF THE REFUGE RANCH”

Online fundraiser gives public never-seen-before tour of the nation’s largest long-term rehabilitation community for child sex trafficking survivors

AUSTIN, TX, September 22, 2020 – The Refuge for DMST™ (Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking) invites the public to Circle of Hope, a first-time-ever, online tour of The Refuge Ranch, Wednesday, September 23rd at 12:30PM Central. Opened in 2018 with 48 beds, The Refuge Ranch is the largest long-term, live-in rehabilitation community for child survivors of sex trafficking in the United States.

To help viewers understand the complex trauma, PTSD, anxiety, and depression issues that are unique to each child survivor of child sex trafficking, the Circle of Hope online tour of The Refuge Ranch will be seen through the eyes of Kiara, a representative child survivor– from her first day, to her transition back out into the world. (All the young women seen throughout the tour are adult volunteers or actors. No actual residents will be shown.)

Since The Refuge Ranch opened two years ago, very few people have seen the everyday hope and healing taking place at the ranch, outside of the residents and those directly involved in their care. To minimize the disruption in care and to protect the safety and confidentiality of the girls living at The Refuge Ranch, tours of this rehabilitative community have always been limited.

According to the US Justice Department, there are still less than 600 beds available nationwide for child sex trafficking survivors’ long term recovery from trauma. This critical gap in care for victims is caused in large part because federal and state governments mostly concentrate their anti-trafficking efforts on prevention and prosecution.

To fill this gap, Austin, TX-based The Refuge for DMST built the 50-acre, 23-building Refuge Ranch and created The Refuge Circle of Care™, a comprehensive, holistic, trauma-informed treatment program that sensitively surrounds each girl with the services she needs for her individualized healing plan. On-site services include: psychiatric services from Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Psychiatry and the Institute for Early Life Adversity Research; education through the University of Texas-University Charter School (UT-UCS); medical services by community partners; and various therapeutic programs uniquely designed for the development of a child survivor.

“The Refuge is in the hope business and we currently live in a world where there’s a high demand for hope,” said Brooke Crowder, Founder and CEO of The Refuge for DMST. “Our goal is to provide the best care available for survivors of child sex trafficking. To that end, we aspire to be known in near future as the Mayo Clinic of domestic minor sex trafficking treatment. The Refuge model depends upon public support for direct care organizations that provide comprehensive services for child survivors. Come see our mission in action. Purchase a ticket for our online tour and we will keep supplying the hope!”

To purchase tickets for the September 23rd showing of Circle of Hope, click here.

For a press preview of the online tour, please send an email to: press@therefugedmst.org.

About The Refuge for DMST

The Refuge for DMST™ (Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking) is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has developed The Refuge Ranch, a long-term, residential, therapeutic community for 48 girls, minors through age 19, who have been recovered from sex traffickers. Built from the ground up on 50 acres in a beautiful and restorative setting outside of Austin, TX, The Refuge Ranch provides trauma-informed, holistic care for the girls on site, including: psychiatric services from Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Psychiatry and the Institute for Early Life Adversity Research; education through the University of Texas-University Charter School (UT-UCS); medical services by community partners; and various therapeutic programs uniquely designed for the development of a child survivor. The Refuge Ranch is the largest long-term, live-in rehabilitation facility for child survivors of sex trafficking in the United States. For more information, go to www.therefugedmst.org.

Circle of Hope: A Special Tour of The Refuge Ranch

Come witness our mission in action

We invite you to join us on September 23rd for an open house tour of The Refuge Ranch, the largest long-term, live-in rehabilitation community for child survivors of sex trafficking in the United States. 

Circle of Hope: A Special Tour of The Refuge Ranch

Nestled among the Bastrop County pine trees, a 23-building labor of love has risen up from the clay and the sand to meet a dire need. The 50-acre Refuge Ranch opened in August of 2018.

Since then, many girls have come to the ranch for hope and healing. 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. During Circle of Hope, you will witness our mission in action. You won’t see any actual residents, but you will get to see the everyday hope and healing of The Refuge Ranch, as seen through the eyes of a representative child survivor of sex trafficking.

Why a Tour Now?

Because COVID-19 precautions remain in place, we had to cancel our two upcoming fundraisers, the Not On Our Watch luncheon and the Hope Appétit 2021 gala. 

Furthermore, the pandemic has created an elevated need for safe places where a child can heal from her trafficking experience. Our primary goal is to find new ways we can serve more girls in the months to come.  

This is where you come in.

Join us for our first-ever online tour of The Refuge Ranch. Your participation will help support our mission and you will get to see first hand what we do every day to help girls find hope and healing.

Get Your Tickets Today!

Tickets are now available for Circle of Hope: A Special Tour of The Refuge Ranch. 

• Click here now to reserve your front row seats.

• Become a sponsor of this special event. Find out more.

• When: Wednesday, September 23, 2020 at 12:30 PM Central Time

• Where: On your computer or phone (but you'll want to use your computer for best viewing)

• Cost: $25 General Admission; $75 for VIP, which includes a Hope Hat of your choice

A Special Tour of The Refuge Ranch - September 23rd at 12:30PM CDT. Purchase tickets here.

The Power of Community: Eight Days of Hope

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Like The Refuge for DMST, the nonprofit Eight Days of Hope arose from an overwhelming community need that was met with countervailing community support. After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, a call went out over American Family Radio’s 180 stations, asking for retired construction workers to come help rebuild the city. Thousands of men and women responded and Eight Days of Hope was born. Since then, Eight Days of Hope volunteers have responded to natural disasters all over the country. Right before Christmas 2019, an army of volunteers came to The Refuge Ranch to complete the Equine Therapy Center, our last major construction project on site. Their experienced team completed the work in just eleven days! (Video coming soon.)

How does a national volunteer organization that concentrates on disaster relief and rapid response end up building a large arena, round pen, six stables, a tack room and hay loft, an office for the Equine Program Coordinator, along with an adjacent classroom to augment therapy?

“Human trafficking is human disaster,” says Eight Days of Hope founder Steve Tybor, “and the need is huge.”

In response, Eight Days of Hope launched a Safe House Ministry to build safe places for trafficking survivors. Steve and his army of volunteers intend to “build a safe house every month,” says Steve, “until God tells me to stop.”

Thankfully for us this includes equine therapy centers in long-term residential treatment centers! We’re hoping we get to work more with Eight Days of Hope in the near future.

EQUINE THERAPY FOR CHILD SURVIVORS OF SEX TRAFFICKING

The seven components of The Refuge Circle of Care™ appropriately and sensitively surround each girl with all the services she needs for her individualized healing plan. As part of the psychological component of The Refuge Circle of Care, equine therapy (also referred to as horse therapy, equine-assisted therapy, and equine-assisted psychotherapy) is a form of experiential therapy that involves interactions between clients and horses. Through these interactions, therapists and survivors can identify and address a range of emotional and behavioral challenges.

As a herd animal, a horse’s survival depends on its ability to read emotions and react accordingly. If an approaching predator makes one member of their herd stressed and frightened, they will all become stressed and frightened. Their ability to mirror emotions helps a trafficking survivor safely process her trauma one layer at a time with the guidance of her licensed clinical therapist and an Equine Program Coordinator.

Equine therapy exercises begin slowly, starting on the ground and progressing over the course of the program to riding exercises. While interacting with a horse, in the moment when a survivor is scared, she can work through her fear with her counselors. When she feels safe and there is trust, then she can calm herself and breathe through her anxiety. When similar fears arise later, the methods she learned in the controlled environment of the Equine Therapy Center round pen and arena can be applied in everyday situations to help her self-regulate and overcome her fear.

The size and strength of a horse is formidable and hard to ignore. How each child behaves toward her horse is a direct reflection of how she faces her own seemingly insurmountable trauma. Trafficked children are often frozen in a hyper-vigilant, fight-or-flight survivor mode that stresses their bodies and inhibits brain development. Through mundane horse care and stable management, children who have endured long-term, complex trauma learn to relax and flourish. While working with horses, a child can work through her triggers in real time. These realizations can lead to therapeutic breakthroughs when guided by her counselors. The horses at The Refuge Ranch act as a bridge, helping each girl reconnect both to themselves and those around them.