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She deserves to write a new chapter in her story

LETTER FROM THE LETTER FROM THE BOARD

Dear Friends and Partners,

Grace and peace to you.

In the pages that follow I hope you find encouragement in how God is writing His story in the lives of the women served by North Star Initiative. This year, because of God’s provision and your faithful partnership, survivors of trafficking have begun new chapters marked by safety, stability, and renewed purpose.

At the heart of our mission is restoration. Each woman who comes through our doors carries a story marked by exploitation, trauma, and profound injustice. Yet that is not the end of their story.

Because of your faithful partnership, a new chapter is being written — one defined by dignity, healing, purpose, and hope in Christ.

In 2025, we witnessed survivors take courageous steps toward independence: securing safe housing, completing education programs, obtaining meaningful employment, and reconnecting with their God-given identity. Through traumainformed care and practical life-skills training, we have seen lives steadily rebuilt on a foundation of safety and truth.

Opening a new chapter requires more than services. It requires community. It requires people who not only believe restoration is possible but

are also willing to invest in it. It requires faithful donors, volunteers, staff, and prayer partners who understand that transformation is both practical and spiritual work.

As a Board of Directors, we remain committed to strong governance, financial stewardship, and strategic growth so that the impact made possible by your generosity deepens in the years ahead. We are guided by biblical principles of integrity, accountability, and compassion. We recognize that every dollar entrusted to this organization represents both sacrifice and trust — and we take that responsibility seriously.

This annual report reflects testimonies of resilience and redemption. It tells the story of survivors courageously opening new chapters — and the faithfulness of God working through this community.

Thank you for standing with us. Thank you for believing that exploitation does not have the final word. And thank you for helping survivors step into the next chapter of their lives — one marked by freedom, stability, and hope.

With gratitude and humility,

Kelly Gooch Board Chair

Reflecting on the past year is an opportunity for great celebration! Your generosity has written extraordinary stories, and in this report, we are glad to share with you the outcomes of the work we did together throughout the year.

Our work is reported in numbers—the dollars you gave, hours invested in therapy and case management, number of residents served, and more. Accurate numbers matter, as we faithfully report our outcomes to you. But the reason we report accurate numbers is that every number represents a name. Every name represents a story. And every story matters.

Many women come to North Star Initiative with chapters in their stories that others wrote for them—dark chapters of exploitation, pain, loneliness and abuse. These are chapters where their voices were ignored and their dreams were neglected, chapters where it looked as though darkness would have the last word.

But because of the incredible community investing in our mission, strong, resilient, brave women come to North Star and receive what they need to begin a new chapter. In these pages, you will read how new chapters come together, fueled by the resilience and courage of survivors, the passionate commitment of our community, and the tenacity and care of our team.

Darkness will not have the last word.

Thank you for believing every survivor deserves to write a new chapter. Thank you for investing in North Star so that we can equip beautiful women with what they need to turn the page. Darkness will not have the last word. New chapters are being written in the light, and they are beautiful testimonies of transformation and healing.

Melinda Clark Chief Executive Officer

Vision Mission

Motivated by the love of Jesus, we work to end trafficking and empower survivors to reclaim the life they were created to enjoy through healing their whole person.

We envision a community that is trafficking-proof because the vulnerable are loved, equipped, connected and healed.

Claire Chivington Kelly Gooch Kristine Sauder Dan Schmierer Melanie Rankin Emma Gutierrez

A STORY OF

freedom

Healing does not happen in isolation. When a survivor enters a place of healing, the presence of a committed, compassionate community helps her turn the page from survival toward restoration. We walk alongside her, equipping her with the skills and resources she needs to write a new story, one marked by freedom, stability, and hope.

No one heals alone. These partners walk alongside survivors with compassion and commitment, empowering them to turn the page and dream about what the next chapter can be.

NSI stands out to me because of its unwavering commitment to honoring the survivors’ voices while focusing on providing safe, structured, and compassionate care. It has been a privilege so far to learn and serve in an environment where healing, faith, and excellence are witnessed being lived out and held together with such care.

Hope, Intern

How could someone not be compelled to heartily support the work and ministry of North Star Initiative? It’s such a beautiful opportunity to display the grace and love of Jesus, to women who so sorely need it.

Matthew, D.D.S.

As a church we are constantly talking about what it looks like to “build bridges” to help others know the great love of God. Our partnership with NSI is a great bridge for us to come alongside of what the NS team is doing to live out the gospel… the very thing Jesus said He came to do: “He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” (Luke 4:18). We praise God for this partnership, and the many women God is setting free through it!

Dwight, Providence Church

We serve a God who created every person in His image, giving them dignity and worth in His sight, and whose heart is deeply concerned for the afflicted and oppressed. So, it is such a privilege to work alongside North Star Initiative as they seek to rescue and help women who have suffered so much and to point them toward the healing they can find in Christ.

Chris, Westminster Presbyterian Church

We are passionate about empowering survivors with emotional resilience and relational skills that support them in building a new life and becoming all that God created them to be.

Meagan, Take Heart Counseling

I love creating experiences that help women build confidence and discover their strengths, offering support and guidance they can carry forward as they move toward new opportunities and challenges in their lives.

Annie, Etiquette Teacher

Matters of the Heart is privileged to partner with North Star Initiative because of our shared mission to help survivors reclaim the lives they were created to enjoy through healing their whole person. We are honored to provide the spiritual, emotional, and mental health support necessary to help achieve that goal.

Matters of the Heart Counseling

1 Where She Chooses to Turn the Page

Every story of restoration begins with a moment of choice, often prompted by a specific encounter--law enforcement, a social worker, outreach, or a community referral. A survivor begins to imagine an alternative that could allow her to leave the Life. This moment is fragile and urgent, requiring an immediate safe place to land.

Emergency Shelter

Emergency Shelter is the first step in North Star’s continuum of care. Our shelter is a crisis response designed to meet survivors at the exact moment they are ready to turn the page, offering a compassionate presence when everything feels uncertain.

Through trusted partnerships with Zoe International, the YWCA, and the local Human Trafficking Task Forces, North Star can respond quickly and collaboratively. These partnerships ensure survivors are not navigating crises alone, but are met with coordinated care, dignity, and protection.

Awareness in the Community

This work begins long before a survivor walks through our doors. Through ongoing awareness presentations and training, North Star equips professionals and community partners to recognize and respond to trafficking so that we can connect survivors with resources they need. Awareness opens doors, and open doors make it possible for survivors to turn the page.

Working with the Lancaster County Human Trafficking Task Force, we met an 18-year-old young woman (“T”) who had been transported to Lancaster by traffickers who exploited T’s desperate financial need, after T lost the job that had been helping to support her family. Out of options, she called a number that had promised work, which led her to a hotel that traffickers arranged for her in Lancaster County.

Members of the task force encountered her late at night three days later. When she wouldn’t (and couldn’t, due to language barriers) communicate with the investigators, one of North Star’s staff members responded to the task force’s call and spoke with her in Spanish. As a result of that intervention, and community collaboration, the young woman shared her story with caring investigators and asked for help.

I want to go home to my mom.

When asked what she wanted next, T said, “I want to go home to my mom. And if I had somewhere else to go, I would want to go there right now.” That same night, she left the situation of exploitation and entered a safe, welcoming space through North Star’s emergency shelter. With immediate stabilization and community support, she was able to return home to her family. Just days later, she sent a video from her new job, smiling as she said, in her best English, “Me working! Thank you!”—a glimpse into a new chapter marked by safety, dignity, and hope.

storyof

CHAPTER 2 Where She Knows She Is Not Alone

The journey to healing begins in a safe place with safe people. One new resident shared on her first morning at the Harbor, “This is the best sleep I’ve had since I can remember. For the first time, I feel safe.” When safety settles into her body and spirit, she can begin receiving the tools, resources, and relationships that help her reclaim the life she was created to enjoy.

Restoration is hard, holy, and often nonlinear work that requires tenacity and patience. Through hours of extensive therapy, sobriety support, life skills development, spiritual formation, and successful case management outcomes, we see survivors not only stabilizing, but gaining strength. Each survivor deserves the very best we can offer, and we are committed to being the safe place where she can begin to dream about what a new chapter could look like.

I didn’t think I’d be able to finish, and now I can’t believe how much I’ve changed.

Restoration in Action

Healing is not linear, but progress is measurable. Each number represents a woman making the brave, hard choice to reclaim the life she is created to enjoy.

18 total survivors served through NSI programs in 2025

2559 hours of intentional training to build a skilled team capable of fostering safety, dignity, and hope

100% of survivors maintaining sobriety

82% program retention rate, reflecting sustained engagement in care

CHAPTER 3 Where She Builds Independence

Healing is a storyline that continues through many chapters of a survivor’s life. In Transitional Care, survivors move from stabilization into sustainable living, building rhythms that support long-term independence. With affordable housing and wraparound support, women safely reintegrate into the community while strengthening healthy coping skills, maintaining meaningful employment, and practicing the steady habits that foster financial and emotional stability.

Independence in Action

Five women who completed our program are now pursuing their dreams months later. One shared that before coming to North Star, she could not imagine how anything could change in twelve months.

Today, living independently with a job she loves, she simply says, “I’m very, very, very happy.”

We work to increase program retention so that more survivors are able to complete their goals for their chapter with NSI. In 2025, three residents graduated from our restoration program, moving forward to continue the life-giving rhythms they launched during their year at North Star Initiative. graduates transitioned into independent living women obtained a vehicle to support work and stability maintaining financial stability one year postprogram

employed within 6 months of graduation

True freedom is built on a series of steps as each survivor develops the confidence, competence, and community she needs to sustain the new chapter she has worked so hard to write.

GEDs, degrees, certifications, or vocational trainings pursued

Resident Graduate

CHAPTER 4 Where She Flourishes

True freedom and flourishing happens when survivors are able to choose their own dreams again and again. National statistics reflect a grim reality that nearly 80% of survivors experience re-victimization, so we asked ourselves a different question: What if we refuse to accept this as inevitable? What if we listen closely to survivor voices and build pathways that allow women truly to flourish?

Survivors told us they needed practical, concrete support: job readiness, meaningful work experience, and financial stability. Florissant is a place where dignity and creativity meet, offering a healing-centered environment where survivors earn a living wage and develop essential soft skills. They gain confidence to thrive in the community with resilience and strength.

impact

Product & Retail Growth

Our candle line successfully launched in the fall, featuring four seasonal scents

We expanded our product offerings to include dried flower bouquets and block-printed shirts

Website orders shipped to 6 states

Retail space opened at Prussian Street Arcade

1 collaborative product released with Hon’s Honey

Yet the most meaningful growth could not be measured in sales alone.

Survivor Employment & Skill Development

residents employed in 2025 410 hours of work paid to survivors 94% shift completion rate among participating residents

Flourishing in Their Own Words

A resident stepped into a production role and is thriving, pouring candles, printing shirts, managing inventory, and helping lead shifts with confidence and consistency. ”I love me! I’m good at so many things.”

A resident who once began every shift saying, “I don’t think I can do this but will try to work fifteen minutes,” now confidently uses healthy coping strategies to complete every shift.

One resident celebrated when a friend placed a wholesale order to carry Florissant products in her gift shop in another state. Her work now reaches her own community. “My work matters.”

A program graduate started her own online sales shop, applying the skills and confidence she developed at Florissant to pursue her own business goals. “I’m an entrepreneur, and that’s something I learned about myself at Florissant.”

WRITE A NEW CHAPTER

We envision a community that is trafficking proof because the vulnerable are loved, equipped, connected and healed.

Human trafficking ends here. Join the movement!

• Become a monthly donor

• Volunteer at events

• Host a donation drive for program supplies

• Join our prayer team

• Volunteer your professional services:

- Occupational therapist

- Nutritionist, wellness coach

- Teach art, music or handcrafts

- Fitness instructors (boxing, strength training)

- Board member

• Provide internship and work opportunities

• Host an awareness presentation at your workplace, church or school

• Share our social media posts for awareness

• Help with cleaning and organizing projects

• Provide snacks and treats for staff meetings

• Donate experiences to survivors (gift cards, tickets, events)

• Purchase needs from our Amazon wishlist

• Help with lawn care

• Make a purchase from Florissant Collective

We’d love to hear from you. Scan the QR code to connect with our team.

We move into 2026 committed to our values

• Jesus is central – Our greatest priority is to follow Jesus faithfully and invite others to know him.

• Kingdom work is collaborative – We embody the values of God’s kingdom as we partner with others to steward excellent resources for survivors.

• Relationships are safe – We speak truth kindly, listen carefully, and resolve conflict quickly so that we are safe with each other.

COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT

North Star Initiative is completely community funded.

In 2025, our community generously supported the mission through Gifts in Kind, contributing services and goods valued at $ 44,571

and

• Healing is possible – We believe that God can heal any story from the inside out, working through a committed community and holistic resources.

• Survivors are experts – We center the voices and needs of survivors who are the best experts in their own lives.

• Curiosity is transformational – We keep asking questions, staying open-minded and inviting accountability to gain effective solutions for our community.