MIDLAND, Texas — "The Village has been open, providing 24/7 restorative care. We started to plan and we started to process years ago of really saying what do we need to do here, how do we build a foundation, how do we build sustainability and create a model," Lisa Bownds, CEO and founder said.
This plan quickly shaped into a housing community called The Village, which now houses men and women at different stages of their trafficking recovery process.
Over the last year, Reflection Ministries helped over 40 people recover and be placed in a safe location.
They've increased the number of people staying in The Village.
They've been educating over 3900 people in our community about sex trafficking and strengthening community partnerships.
"Dr. Ingram, who does all of our eye exams, Texas Tech does all of our OBG and our clinic work, Medical Center, Martin County, Midland Memorial, it's just even down to Centers for Children providing counseling for us and the Equine Center, the horse center working with us on the therapy aspect for mental health. It takes a community, it takes a village to meet the needs of these individuals," Bownds said.
Because these people come to The Village needing all the help they can get.
"When individuals come to The Village and come to the campus, really they come with nothing, so Reflection Ministries partners with multiple agencies across Midland and Odessa to provide those resources to them," Bownds said.
And COVID-19 exposed their need for help even more.
"Seeing the greater need that we have here in our community, I already knew it was there, but it became so much more evident when the world shut down and then when we just really got in the trenches to understand what the needs are and how do we walk with people who are escaping a horrific life," Bownds said.
Their next step is to strengthen outreach with their program called The Life After The Life.
This spring and fall they'll be starting a 12-week program 3 nights a week for survivors who might not be ready to move into The Village yet.