Inspiration can come from the most unlikely places. The inspiration for Destiny House, a local nonprofit dedicated to helping victims of human trafficking, for example, was a bit nontraditional.
“It started with a music video,” co-founder Lisa Mitts said this week.
The video, for a song called “Our Silence is Shameful” by Luke Dowler, opens with the statistic that 1.2 million children are trafficked into the commercial sex trade each year and shows a girl who has been abducted and is forced into a room at the end with other girls.
After seeing it, Mitts and her husband David felt the need to get involved and the pair founded Destiny House Restoration Center with the goal of helping victims of human trafficking find their way back into society.
“It’s become the hidden crime,” she said, adding that human trafficking is the second-largest source of illegal income worldwide.
David is a pastor at Renton’s One New Man Ministry and opens an acupuncture business in the city. Though the couple’s faith helps inspires them, Lisa is quick to say it is not a Christian charity and not connected to any ministry, but open to all.
Lisa is an artist herself and was so moved by the video, she made one of her own, for a song called “Where Has Love Gone.” Though the song was not originally about human trafficking, Lisa said the lyrics fit the cause so she made also a video aimed at raising money. It premiered in 2012 . This weekend, the video will be featured at the L.A. Awareness Film Festival.
Lisa said the money will go toward helping make Destiny House a physical reality. So far, the couple has raised nearly $40,000, but they have a goal of $250,000 in order to purchase the land and house to put their program into action.
Working with Dr. Stacy Cecchet, a clinical psychologist who specializes in trauma and forensic psychology, the Mitts have worked to develop a program they call HEARTS. It stands for Healing, Education and Restoration Treatment for Survivors and incorporates counseling, group therapy, GED education with the goal of getting a job, developing basic healthy life skills, connecting professional resources for drug addiction, detox, and medical attention, creative therapies such as art and connecting with corporations who would work with us to hire our graduates of the program.
Lisa said while there are other programs out there, none have been as complete in trying to get the girls back into the world.
“If the girls get rescued but don’t get healed, they go back to the life,” Lisa said, adding “it costs a lot of money to do this kind of program.”
The hope is to eventually build or buy a house in a rural setting that would house six to eight girls at a time for up to a year as they went through the HEARTS program.
Lisa said Destiny House has received official nonprofit status and the couple hopes to continue raising money to help deal with a growing issue, particularly in or region.
“You think of it as far off,” Lisa said, adding that she was “astounded” to find it in her own back yard.
“I want people to come and support this vision,” Lisa said.
For more information on or to contribute to Destiny House, visit www.destinyhouserc.org.
