Most people think ending human trafficking is about rescues.
It’s not.
The rescue is just the beginning. It’s the months and years of rebuilding a shattered life; that’s where the real work happens. And on this Giving Tuesday, we pulled back the curtain to show you exactly what that looks like inside Elijah Rising.
If you missed our Instagram Behind the Scenes, here’s everything you need to know about the people and programs making restoration possible.
Restorative Care: The Foundation of Everything We Do
Melody, our Chief Program Officer, walked us through the heart of our work.
When a woman enters our program, she’s often coming from years of trauma, exploitation, and being in survival mode. She doesn’t just need a bed. She needs a complete rebuilding of her life from the inside out.
Our Restorative Care program provides that foundation.
- Safe housing
- Trauma-informed therapy
- Life skills training
- Spiritual formation
It’s not a quick fix. It’s a long-term investment in a woman’s complete healing.
Melody has seen women arrive broken and leave whole. That transformation doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because every detail of our program is intentional.
Case Management: Navigating the Impossible
Joy Adonai handles something most people never think about.
When a survivor leaves exploitation, she often has no ID. No credit history. No bank account. Criminal records for crimes she was forced to commit. Outstanding warrants. Custody battles. Medical needs that have gone unaddressed for years.
Joy helps our residents navigate all of it.
She coordinates between agencies, advocates in courtrooms, helps rebuild credit, and walks alongside women through bureaucratic systems designed for people with stable lives—not survivors starting from scratch. Every small victory matters. A driver’s license. A cleared record. A reunification with children. Joy fights for each one.
Education: Reclaiming Stolen Dreams
Shekinah showed us what happens when a woman starts dreaming again.
Many of our residents had their education interrupted by trafficking. Some were exploited as children and never finished high school. Others had college aspirations that were stolen from them.
Our education program meets women wherever they are. GED preparation. College applications. Vocational training. Career development. Whatever it takes to help a woman build the future she was denied.
Watching a resident submit her first college application after years of believing a degree was impossible? That’s the kind of moment that makes this work worth every challenge.
Recovery Support: Breaking the Chains of Addiction
Jessica Gobble tackles one of the hardest parts of healing.
Many trafficking survivors struggle with addiction—often forced substance use by their traffickers as a control mechanism. You can’t just remove someone from exploitation and expect the addiction to disappear. The chemicals in their brain have been rewired. Recovery is a battle.
Jessica provides the support our residents need to fight that battle. Group sessions. Individual accountability. Connection to recovery resources. The consistent presence of someone who believes they can get sober—and stay sober.
Recovery isn’t linear. There are setbacks. But Jessica has witnessed women who never thought freedom was possible walk in complete sobriety. That’s the power of patient, persistent support.
Van Tours: More Than Statistics
Melissa explained why our Awareness Van Tours matter so much.
We could tell you there are an estimated 313,000 trafficking victims in Texas. We could cite statistics about Houston being a major hub. But numbers don’t change hearts. Stories do.
Our Van Tours take people through Houston neighborhoods where trafficking happens in plain sight. Participants see the illicit massage businesses. The cantinas. The motels. They begin to recognize what they’ve been driving past for years without knowing.
When someone takes a Van Tour, they can never unsee it. That awareness turns into prayer. Prayer turns into action. Action turns into lasting change in our community.
Melissa has watched people step off the van completely transformed in their understanding. That’s the goal.
Intervention: Where Supplies Become Lifelines
We also gave you a behind-the-scenes tour of where we store our intervention supplies.
Every month, our volunteer teams go into the dark places—massage parlors, cantinas, the streets—to reach women still trapped in exploitation. They bring gifts. Resources. Hotline numbers. And most importantly, the love of Jesus.
Those supplies you saw stacked in our storage room? They become lifelines.
A gift bag that says “you are seen.” A moment of kindness that plants a seed of hope in a woman who has forgotten what hope feels like.
This Is What Your Giving Makes Possible
Behind every program is a team of people who show up daily for the hardest work imaginable.
Behind every statistic is a woman with a name, a story, and a future worth fighting for.
This Giving Tuesday, you had the chance to see what we see every day. The messy, beautiful, exhausting, miraculous work of restoration.
Please consider supporting this important work by making an end-of-year donation to support all of the above services and more!
Because somewhere in Houston, there’s a woman who needs what we just showed you.
And she’s worth going after.
