A new nonprofit organization in Stinesville, Indiana, supporting women who have experienced trafficking will have a fundraising event April 24 where people can have headshots taken by a professional photographer.
"This professional headshot fundraiser is a great opportunity to get something you need in a COVID-friendly way," IU senior Olivia Oster said. Oster said she works to put Sojourn House in contact with groups and resources at IU.
Those interested can sign up for time slots on Sojourn House's website. Masks will be required except for when posing for a photo, and the photographer will be more than 6 feet away from the participants. The process should take about five minutes, Oster said. Two to four digital copies of the headshots will be sent to participants via email two to four days after the event.
Sojourn House is a transitional living facility for women who have experienced trafficking. It will take in women who are survivors of trafficking, giving them a safe space to live and rebuild their lives. Sojourn House was developed in 2019, but COVID-19 slowed its progress, treasurer Morgan Lane said. The building is currently undergoing renovations, and the goal is to open Sojourn House and begin helping women by this fall.
Lane said the facility began as a much-needed resource for the Monroe County area.
“Bloomington needed something where survivors and victims of trafficking could come to heal from the trauma that they’ve been through and build sustainable lives again,” she said.
When women step into Sojourn House, they step into the two-year “Pathways to Restoration” program, Lane said.
Lane said the first step is healing.
When women first arrive, they will have the opportunity to rest and process what they’ve gone through in a supportive environment, Lane said. They will be connected with medical care, therapy and chaplains if desired.
Throughout a woman’s stay, Sojourn House will provide life skills courses such as cooking and changing a flat tire, Lane said. In addition, it will help women achieve their career and educational goals through giving them access to college courses, GEDs and trade schools, and transportation to jobs if needed.
While women will receive various kinds of support, they will learn to work and pay bills independently, in preparation for when they leave, Lane said. After women graduate from the program, they will be in contact with a case manager for six months to support them when needed.
Secretary Carissa Muncie said Sojourn House is working with others in the community to identify at-risk women, including those experiencing homelessness.
“We are putting a case manager out in the community, and working alongside the Bloomington Downtown Outreach Project to help identify some of those women who are at risk or who have been exploited who are currently homeless,” Muncie said.
She said Sojourn House is also working with police departments and hospital emergency room departments to identify at-risk women. However, the choice to stay at Sojourn House must be willingly made by a woman.
Muncie said having a place like Sojourn House is important because while society has become more aware of human trafficking, women often don’t receive the help they need.
“It’s taken years to catch up and realize the women who we used to call derogatory terms like ‘hooker’ or ‘prostitute’ –– those terms, we’re realizing how few of those women ever signed up for it,” Muncie said. “So now we’re able to help women at a totally different level in a program like ours because the community is finally starting to get it.”
Lane said Sojourn House strives to be a place where women can feel supported and valued.
“At Sojourn House we want women to know that we see them, we see their worth, and we know the way they’re being treated is not okay,” she said. “There’s people here that care for them to help them get out of that vulnerable stage of exploitation so they can have a life of freedom and wholeness again.”
The headshot fundraiser will run from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Faith Lutheran Church, located at 2200 High St. in Bloomington. Headshots cost $30 for IU students and $60 for non-students.
