DuPage County Sheriff + NH
The NH team met with the DuPage County Sheriff last week, and he came to get things done! As the Sheriff led the conversation around the table, his air of authority encouraged us and provided a focus to our discussion. He shared with us his heart and vision to offer more resources to women in the DuPage County jail who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation but are caught in the cycle of crime, victimization, crime, abuse, crime, and on and on. We were exuberant to find that he had such knowledge and vision for what it takes to end human trafficking. Just as we believe and work to communicate every day—women are not for sale—this Sheriff believes the same and came to NH to formalize a partnership and work toward breaking the cycle for victims.
During this meeting, we also learned that, on average, 125 women are arrested in DuPage County each month. Now, thanks to our partnership with the Sheriff’s office and DuPage County leadership, every woman who is processed after her arrest will be screened for commercial exploitation and sex trafficking. If there is an indication that exploitation is in her background, she will be connected to our staff for further assessment and recommendation for her treatment. This process aligns with all of the other networking and relationship building we’ve been accomplishing over the last months with DuPage County judges, working toward providing resources to women who are victims of sex trafficking to end the cycle of abuse and replacing that with NH programs. Our services are life-giving to the women who engage with us—trauma-informed, holistic in nature in order to address each woman’s entire being, faith-based, and rooted in the gospel of Jesus and his grace.
The partnership with the Sheriff and DuPage County is a win for women and girls throughout Chicagoland. More access to services, more expansion of NH and our programs, and more healing that leads to life transformation. It reminds me of a passage of Scripture I’ve camped out on lately: “When we were unable to help ourselves, at the right time, Christ died for us, although we were living against God…But God shows his great love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners.” (Rom 5:6–8) We are unable to help ourselves…I mean to really save ourselves and bring about our own healing. And Jesus knew this. He knew we were ungodly, living against him, and ill-equipped to do anything about it. I love that at just the right time Christ died for us. He knew the mess he was taking on when he gave his life to save ours, and he did it anyway. This message is so profound that we build our entire lives on it. This is the message we share at NH—in both word and actions—that every woman is worthy of God’s great love.
So we’re taking deep breaths around here and bracing for an increase in women we serve! Behind the scenes, we’re working on infrastructure to support our growing programs, an updated website, new materials and messaging…all the things you do when you’re growing and expanding services. I’ll be sharing more updates as these plans unfold. In the meantime, hold NH in prayer! Fight alongside us for Survivors, as I know you do, and believe with us that God is and will beautifully transform lives of the women we serve and have the privilege of getting to know.
Last thing that might excite you—just like this time last year, an anonymous donor who is passionate about offering the healing power of God to all, wants to encourage our partners to consider a gift in the month of May. Every gift that is given in May will be doubled up to $100,000! Hold on, friends, this is a game-changer for NH and its programs!