SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — On April second almost 3 dozen well-organized volunteers from around the country traveled to Sioux Falls. They came to help Call to Freedom prepare their new headquarters
“So down here is just cosmetic paint that has to be done and then the carpet,” said Colleen Fabling.
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Fabling and other volunteers are part of a ministry called 8 Days of Hope, she is the ministry’s Safe House Director.
“So we come in for 14 days and from April 2nd to April 16th, it will be a complete renovation of this space which used to be a data center and now its going to serve survivors of human trafficking,” said Colleen Fabling.
The volunteers work long days and work on the weekends too. Some of them take vacation time to be here. Many are highly trained in construction, from electricians to plumbers to painters.
“I’ve got 50 years of construction experience this year,” said Harold Dawson of Ohio. “So me I can walk into a building and I can just see what we need to do and what order it needs to go in.”
Dawson says hearing the personal stories of human trafficking victims inspired him to take on projects like this one.
“I’ve always heard if you really want to be passionate about something let the lord break your heart, she broke my heart, she did it last night too. It just breaks your heart to hear that stuff of you can’t behind something like this, you are not a human being, you are not what you are supposed to be,” said Dawson.
Call to Freedom is one of 13 shelters supported by 8 Days of Hope.
“We love the work that we do, we know that they are on the front lines of fighting against human trafficking and we are just grateful that we get to be here to hold their arms up and encourage them,” said Fabling.
So, basically, we have one organization that helps people helping another organization that helps people.
“We are going to be able to service more victims of human trafficking and have them walk through the doors and we want to make sure they feel safe,” said Call to Freedom CEO and founder Becky Rasmussen. “That they have every opportunity to get out of those horrific situations and this allows us to be able to equip our services to be able to do that.”
This group of volunteers is doing about a quarter of a million dollars worth of work. Rasmussen says that savings can be put to good.
“It also allows us to build these amazing relationships to be able to have people from all over the United States that have a heart for this issue and want to come and be a part of the solution, that’s a movement and we have always said this needs to be a movement across the United States to make a difference and with our partnership with 8 days of Hope we are seeing that,” said Rasmussen.
8 Days of Hope was founded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.They continue to respond to disasters and have helped rebuild 44 hundred homes. Links to both non profits are available below.
To see the Eight Days of Hope website, click here. To see the Call to Freedom website, click here.
