Annie was a seemingly happy teenagerβan athlete and a straight-A student in high school. She even graduated with honors. But while she kept up positive appearances on the outside, she says she felt inadequate and empty on the inside.
It was this depression that led her to numb her feelings with drugs and alcohol starting at age Just a month after graduation, Annie traveled to Las Vegas with her boyfriend and his older brother.
That was the first time Annie sold her body for money, just to survive. Annie ended up back in Reno and was in and out of jail. She met her husband, who was a drug dealer, and eventually they had three daughters together. By age 21, Annie was employed by a escort agency and was supporting herself financially. But she says she was always running. She fled to California, Seattle, and back to Las Vegas, where she was raped, robbed and beat up by dozens of abusive and controlling men.
While she desperately wanted to escape the destructive lifestyle she was living, every time she tried, her depression and her pride pulled her right back into the cycle. The team at Awaken got Annie set up with the basics at firstβthings like sheets and bath products. Then they helped her with therapy and support groups to help her heal from past trauma and work on her relationships. Annie says Awaken helped her finally break her damaging life cycle. Annie says Awaken is an unconditionally loving program that helps give her and the other sex trafficking survivors a place to go and someone to talk to.
She says she owes Awaken the value of her life for changing her entire outlook. Thanks for reading! Please consider donating to help us continue to make a difference. Awaken is a community of individuals that come together because of one binding factor β love. Our goal is to help one another move from destructive, damaging relationships to restorative, healing relationships. Thank you for your generosity, faithfulness, and commitment to seeing lives restored. Awaken is a c 3 organization, tax ID number , and your gifts are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
