Our Program
Engedi Refuge serves women, 18 or older, who have experienced sexual exploitation, and are ready to receive help overcoming the negative effects of sex trafficking. Engedi’s program is uniquely designed to help abused and exploited women find healing and regain dignity, with our trauma informed and survivor involved therapy and curriculums.
Our program combines safe housing with the wraparound services that survivors of human trafficking need to heal and rebuild their lives. Our long-term, holistic restoration program has three distinct phases. Women are encouraged to take full advantage of what Engedi Refuge has to offer and commit to finishing each phase of the program. However, this is a free-will program, and participants can leave at any time they feel ready.
Phase 1:
Timeline: Approximately 6 months
Phase 1 is focused on physical safety and emotional stability. Participants are required to stay in Engedi’s Safe House during this Phase. This home is privately located for their protection, but is not a lockdown facility. Residents control their own room keys and have security codes to the property. Our Safe House shelters six residents and one house manager. There are a few basic rules at the Safe House designed to keep everyone safe and make the experience of shared living beneficial for all the women who live there.
During Phase 1, residents attend the Engedi Learning Center Monday through Friday, where they participate in group activities, classroom instruction, trauma therapy, addiction support, and case management discussions. The therapy and education that residents receive at the Learning Center are administered by trauma-informed staff and volunteers. This therapy is focused on helping each resident understand their worth and abilities as a person, develop a healthy perspective on their past, create hope for their future, and learn new tools to navigate life after exploitation. Many residents describe this curriculum as life-changing.
Phase 2 is focused on establishing independent living, educational advancement, and community reintegration. Participants move into one of Engedi’s transitional living houses and they begin six months of curriculum at the Engedi Learning Center.
The curriculum in Phase 2 helps each resident apply what they’ve been learning in practical ways. Participants focus on finding employment or engaging in higher education during this phase. Residents receive mentoring and encouragement on managing finances, time, relationships, and personal health. During Phase 2, participants focus on financial literacy as they formulate plans for their economic independence after leaving Engedi Refuge.
Phase 2:
Timeline: Approximately 4-8 months
Phase 3:
Timeline: Approximately 8 months
Phase 3 is focused on helping participants experience a spiritually vibrant life of faith and learn to help others from a place of healing and love. Program participants live on their own, independent of Engedi Refuge. They are employed, and they are usually in a season of reconnecting with family and making new friends.
Engedi’s staff and volunteers are uniquely capable of providing spiritual guidance, encouragement, and inspiration through a curriculum called Spiritual Foundations. This phase is not for everyone, but it is a wonderful service to those who have found a deep relational connection with God and want to experience a season of making their faith a central part in their life.