Submitted by Jane Ahuero
My path to Magdalena House was not a straight line, but such a rewarding destination I could never have imagined. When my grand girls were still in elementary school, they brought home a flyer about a presentation the San Antonio Police Department was giving on human trafficking, and recruiting techniques that were being used in our city. It was staggering, and too overwhelming to believe. Our city is a hub. Yes a hub, and the numbers take your breath away.
I started focusing on the battered women’s shelter as a ministry, but this is a temporary shelter, at best, and though it meets an immediate need, it does not solve many problems. Through the Diocese, I heard about a home right here in town that provides a long-term residential plan to provide the tools for living independent lives for the residents, and fell in love with the concept. There were few rules for living there (at the time only one house that would hold 4 women and two of their children each), but one of them was to attend a life enrichment program held on Tuesday nights.
I volunteered to help care for the children while their mothers attended these classes. I quickly fell in love with both the children and the mothers. Since I first began, they have added two new homes and now house, not four but twelve families. I have been there long enough to see eight women “graduate” and establish homes for themselves and their children. Three of the women are now working as volunteers in the community because they want to give back, as one of them put it “I want to give back to the place that gave me life.”
I truly believe one of the best ways we can serve others is to keep ourselves educated and informed. This is an excellent source for informing ourselves on what is truly a national epidemic. Be sure to watch the video. http://texasatt.prod.acquia-sites.com/initiatives/human-trafficking.