November 2019
"April's" Story
“April" graduated from Gracehaven's residential program last month! She's been with us a year and has grown tremendously. Before she came to us she was angry and had an attitude of "been there, done that." She absolutely didn't like the word "no," and raged when she was denied her way.

What is she like now? She's a beautiful young lady who has become a leader with the other girls. She's willing to have the difficult conversations with girls when they want to give up. She's had many challenges as she prepares to return to the community, but she's taking them all in stride.

Why the change? She feels safe and secure at Gracehaven. She's found people who love her and refuse to get up on her no matter what. And she's learned effective coping skills to deal with her trauma.

We are passionate about helping girls like April work through their past and begin a new and better future. Thank you for joining us in this mission.
A Role I Cherish
by Carrie Rapp, Gracehaven Case Manager

As a Gracehaven case manager I work with teens impacted by sex trafficking who live in the community. I have many roles: friend, driver, confidante, teacher.

But I was especially touched when “Derek” asked me to be his “family.”

Derek is incarcerated in a juvenile detention facility. For a year and a half I’ve met with him in the facility and talked about his past, his future, and whatever was on his mind. Often he was argumentative, resistant to input and just hard to read. When I tried to encourage him in his ability to make positive choices he would shake his head and say, “No, I can’t change. No, I can’t do it. I’m always going to be bad.” CLICK HERE FOR REST OF STORY
At the House
The girls are enjoying art lessons, guitar lessons and hip hop. As a fun Fall activity they went apple and pumpkin picking. Then some volunteers came and helped the girls make caramel apples, apple butter, apple sauce and apple crisp. By all accounts they had a wonderful time and felt very loved by the time spent together.
Easy Ways to Give
December 3rd. The Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Celebrate a special Day of Giving by making a gift to Gracehaven. More details coming soon.

Do you shop on Amazon? You can designate Gracehaven to receive a donation with every purchase. Log in to SMILE.AMAZON.COM (instead of Amazon.com) and choose Gracehaven as your charity of choice. Everything will work the same, and you'll be helping Gracehaven. And you can start with items on our AMAZON WISH LIST .
Volunteer Highlight: Lisa Wilson
Lisa is a "House Mom" at our residential campus. Once a week she spends three to four hours with the girls after school in their cottage. Sometimes she'll go on outings with them. Her goal is to provide a safe and caring environment so they can relax and just be girls. "I want to be someone who they would want in their home teaching them to crochet or playing games with them or helping them with their chores, like a parent would." Though their stories can be terribly sad, she enjoys helping them by just being there. "These girls just need to feel loved. You don't need special skills for that. Just a willingness to show up." If you're interested in learning more about our House Moms volunteer opportunities, contact Brooke Pollard at [email protected].

How You Can Help!
VOLUNTEER - If you have a heart for the mission and want to use your talents to help, please contact us. CLICK HERE

GIVE - We always need funds to help facilitate our many outreaches. Please consider a gift today to help victims of human trafficking. CLICK HERE

SEE THE STORY - Come to a one-hour presentation on Gracehaven and other key parts of YFC's Social Impact outreach. CLICK HERE .

PRAY - Managing a house of teenage girls can be exciting as well as challenging. Pray for the girls and the staff to create a healthy and positive living experience.

P.O. Box 82102 Columbus, OH 43202 | 614.302.9515 | www.gracehaven.me