Directors, Instructors, Counselors, and the Board of Directors:
We forget what you do and why you do it sometimes, and, most often, that’s on purpose, we concede.
We see your big, beautiful building when we’re visiting downtown Wheeling, and we read the sign, too – “eliminating racism – empowering women”. We’re always glad you’re there fighting fights that, sadly, must be fought, but we fail most of the time to realize that, floor after floor and room after room, there are ladies living inside that historic structure who are seeking long overdue refuge away from what has harmed them worse than we’re willing to admit.
This afternoon, though, will be yet another example of that truth. In an effort to open eyes to the realities of human trafficking, the nonprofit I.G.N.I.T.E. H.O.P.E. is offering a program titled “In Plain Sight” at 1 p.m. at the Ohio County Library. There will be questions and answers and perspectives offered by those who know what “body swapping” looks like, even here – especially here.
A survivor of human trafficking will be on the panel, too, and she just might explain how she was one of many enslaved females who were shipped in storage containers by their owners to places like, yes, Jeff Epstein’s island in the Caribbean.
That’s why, in far too many uncomfortable and inconvenient ways, the “In Plain Sight” program will remind us that you and everyone at the Wheeling YWCA work tirelessly to offer the safety, the freedom, and the sense of peace these ladies have had taken from them. Evil has stolen their souls, and your mission is to guide them back to where they can reunite with who they once were.
It’s a long journey. Not everyone makes it. But you don’t quit. Ever.
Thank you for that.
Sincerely,
Eyes Wide Open
