On Meet Houston Missions and The Simmons and Fletcher Local Missions Podcast, your host Paul Cannon talks with Allison Meier Madrigal, the founder and CEO of Rescue America. Rescue America started as Rescue Houston in 2014 and in 2019 experienced such an outpouring of nationwide need for their services that they rebranded as Rescue America. They are now based out of Denver, Colorado, but their humble beginnings as a vision of Allison to help human trafficking victims escape the lifestyle started right here in Houston and its roots remain with an abundance of opportunity for people to get involved and truly make a difference in the lives of human trafficking victims who are being exploited across the entire United States.
Rescue America is responsible for the 24/7 nationwide human trafficking hotline 833-599-FREE as well as numerous outreach hubs that proactively reach out to pluck human trafficking victims from their captors.
Rescue America Programs & Services
When a victim calls the Rescue America hotline, this sets into motion a process aimed at rescuing that victim when they are ready to escape. The victim is comforted and educated about how they are being victimized yet there is still hope. When the victim is truly ready to escape the lifestyle, Rescue America makes the arrangements to send an Uber and remove them from their present situation. The victim is provided with a hotel, food, and necessities until a more permanent human trafficking shelter can be coordinated for them to be taken to so they can start the journey toward exiting the lifestyle and healing.
In order to encourage the victims to call the hotline, Rescue America scans the internet for ads promoting the sale (prostitution) of the victims and compiles the numbers. They are then delivered to Outreach Hubs run by volunteers across the nation who call and follow up on the leads to give the victims a message of hope and an opportunity to escape.
Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteers for both the hotline and the outreach hubs are needed as well as funding. Many of the hotline workers are full-time staff. The Hub is entirely volunteer-based and fielded over 2000 calls last year resulting in 225 people being rescued from slavery in America. If you are interested in volunteering, you can learn more on the website. Volunteers can either join existing hubs or create a new one. The typical hub gathers one day a month for 2 hours to make the phone calls and to pray for the victims. You can choose to simply be a prayer team member if you prefer. Men and women alike are needed for the hubs. In fact, there is a better response to men than women calling.
Financial Needs
Rescue Houston is greatly in need of private funding and support. You can also visit the website to donate towards the cost of Ubers, food, hotel rooms, and other necessities that are required in order to serve the victims as well as for the cost of full-time call takers on the hotline.
Contact & Info
The website address is https://rescueamerica.ngo/. On the site, you can find out more information on how to sign up to volunteer or how to create a hub. For security reasons, background checks are required on all volunteers. You can also email them at [email protected] or by calling 888-977-8001.
Rescue America is a 501©(3) non-profit organization. All donations made are tax deductible as per the IRS guidelines.
Meet Houston Missions and The Simmons and Fletcher Local Missions Podcast is presented by Simmons and Fletcher, P.C. Injury & Accident Lawyers. Your host, Paul H. Cannon is a partner in the firm.
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