“I was trafficked as a prostitute for almost half my life,” says Ryan, 33. “By the end, I didn’t even know what hope was anymore. It wasn’t until I came to Hope Gardens that I felt that again. To me, that’s what this place is all about.”

“I grew up kind of rebellious,” Ryan says. “Mom was in her own addiction, and when I was 14, I started partying, too.”

When she turned 16, Ryan fell in love with a man who sold her a dream that she could have everything she ever wanted. “At the end of the day, though, I was just one more victim of human trafficking,” she says. “I was just one more prostitute, trapped in a hotel room I couldn’t escape.”

For the next 13 years, Ryan was a prisoner in a world of pimps, predators, strip clubs, beatings, and rape. Her only hope was to escape. “My self-esteem was trashed. After a while, you start to think this is the only way anybody would ever want you,” she recalls.

Ryan was 29 when she ended up pregnant. A few months later, held hostage in yet another hotel room, she was secretly able to get hold of a cell phone and texted a friend for help. Police soon rescued her, and shortly after, Ryan gave birth to her daughter, Brandi.

“When Brandi was born, something clicked. I knew I had to change my life for her,” Ryan  says. “I went to a shelter for victims of human trafficking, and then I went to Hope Gardens with my daughter.”

“The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.” —Psalm 9:9-10