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!

Big News! $150,000 Match in Support of Circle of Hope Tour

The J Campbell Murrell Fund will match all donations made in support of our Circle of Hope tour, up to $150,000.

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.

If you can’t make it to the online event today, you can still make a donation today to help us meet our $150,000 match!

Start Making an Impact Today!

We shared a preview of our online tour with advocates. Here's what they had to say.

“The Refuge Ranch is a place like none other. It is a place of healing and sisterhood. It is a place for growth and reflection.  It is a place for girls that have come from incredibly hard places. The Refuge Ranch – a jewel of Texas.”

— The Honorable Darlene Byrne, Judge, 126th Judicial District Court

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“I was lucky to get to visit The Refuge Ranch just as it opened two years ago. I was impressed back then and am grateful to the team at The Refuge for their tireless efforts to serve. I hope everyone watches your new video tour! I loved seeing how The Refuge model has grown and evolved since I walked the property.”

— Katie Olse, Chief Executive Officer, Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services (TACFS)

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“This tour is an outstanding view of the restoration The Refuge Ranch is offering survivors. I better understand their experience here and I am excited to continue to support that!”

— Lillian Bocquin, Volunteer

Get tickets here! Your donation will be matched up to $150,000!

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.