KEDTalk's podcast

Taylor started with Refuge for Women 2 weeks ago. Taylor is the Program Director for the Gulf Coast location.  Gulf coast will be opening its doors to residents within the next 8 weeks. Listen to Taylors journey of how God led her to Refuge for Women and her excitement about this opportunity 

Theresa Golden is the City Director for Refuge for Women Ohio Valley. Recently the Board of Directors has made the decision to relocate from Ohio into the Pittsburgh community. Theresa shares how that process took place and the timeline of opening a 16 bed short term facility in Pittsburgh. Exciting Times!!!!!

Annie oversees transitional living at the Refuge for Women Las Vegas location. Annie will give you insights into what is involved with transitional living and her journey to living in Las Vegas. 

Jackie is a graduate of Refuge for Women and is now employed in the social enterprise Survivor Made.  God continues to bless Jackie's obedience.  Jackie is now enrolled at Indiana Wesleyan University to pursue a degree to work with people in recovery.

Whitney shares her time at Refuge with the journey of faith since she graduated and relocated.  

Scott Harvey spent 20 years as a police officer and spent most of that time in crime prevention. He taught the D.A.R.E. program, supervised School Resource Officers, and managed media relations for his agency. With about 8 years left until he could retire, Scott began his professional speaking career as a side gig. He used vacation from the police department to speak at schools, conferences, and organizations all over the country. He retired from the police department in 2018.   Today, as the owner of Speaking of Harvey, INC, he has spoken to hundreds of thousands of people all over the country, and was honored to help produce the Rewire student curriculum with Refuge for Women. Scott has made a living through communication for most of his career, both as a police officer and through his own company. Today, he helps organizations and individuals improve their communication to increase their impact!

Stephanie and Kirk knew that God was calling them to missions work. Little did they know the missions work would be in the United States and working with Sex Trafficking.  Recently, Stephanie became the Development Director at our Gulf Coast location.  Hear the Journey of how God opened up the doors for this opportunity and positioned the Clawson family to be his ambassadors to spread His love. 

Dan Desaegher is leading the Refuge for Women SoCal location. They are planning to enter the long term Refuge for Women house in the Fall of 2020.  Dan shares his journey to Refuge and what the needs still are to open the house. 

Refuge for Women North Texas is opening a transitional living home.  Lakysha Chambers will be the director of transitional living and transition from being Assistant City Director.  Lakysha shares her journey to Refuge and the responsibilities this new role will have. 

David Diers is a Vice President at Cox Communications. He is the Chairman of the National Board.  David is passionate about community transformation and mission work of all kinds.  David loves his family, local church,  and the community he lives in.  

Refuge for Women is opening the first Emergency House in the state of Kentucky for survivors of sex trafficking.  Nicole Joy will be leading the home that will open in June 2020.  Nicole is a licensed clinical social worker and providing clinical therapy for 20 years. 

Robin has been with Refuge for Women for four years. She has served as a volunteer, program director, and is currently our City Director. Robin shares her introduction to working with survivors of sex trafficking and gives insight into the happenings at our Las Vegas location. Robin is a wonderful communicator and several of her talks can be heard at the Refuge for Women youtube channel. 

Curtis Swisher is a consultant, coach, speaker and author. After a 30-year professional career, he founded MyCareerQuest.com and the Career Launch Club to help young people to find their career path, and to graduate from college debt free. He earned B.S. & Master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering from Oklahoma State University, and a Master’s degree in Human Resource Education from the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign. He’s addressed audiences in nine countries and served clients in manufacturing, education, financial services and non-profits.  On the personal side, Curtis and Giovanna have been married 37 years. Their son Collin and daughter Katherine are young adults in their twenties.  You can learn more about his work at mycareerquest.com

Mike is Lead Pastor at Calvary Christian Church in Winchester, KY and passionate about serving leadership. Mike consults and coaches groups with Third River Partners. Mike has a doctoral degree in leadership and has been a good friend of Refuge for Women. Mike has provided leadership training for Refuge staff and volunteered in various ways. 

Dr. Nikki Instone is a National board member of Refuge for Women. She is Licensed Clinical Psychologist and active with the program directors at each of our locations.  Dr. Nikki offers advice on how to deal with the turbulent times we are experiencing with the pandemic. 

Jeanne is a catalyst in the Human Trafficking movement. She was pivotal in the starting of the National Sheltered Alliance  and is giving a great amount of time to equipping groups that want to open homes for survivors. She has been featured around the country for her work and leadership. 

Jeff Shaw leads one of the most successful outreach programs to sex trafficking survivors in America.  Jeff shares on this episode the heart of Out of Darkness and the different aspects of their work. Refuge for Women and Out of Darkness have worked together for the last 7 years. Around 40% of all refuge residents have come from the Out of Darkness organization. 

Karen has been the city director for the Refuge for Women Chicago site for the last 5 years. Karen shares her journey in ministry and experience as city director on this podcast. Karen is incredibly wise and loved by all that meet her. Appreciate her taking time to share on KEDTalk. 

Nicole Webb came to Refuge for Women from a fortune 500 company in 2016.  She has been the Chief Operations Officer for the last 4 years.  Nicole discusses on this podcast the launching of the Refuge for Women social enterprise called Survivor Made.  Further information about this social enterprise can be found at www.survivormade.org

Michelle shares her calling and journey in ministry for the last 28 years.  Michelle and Ked started Refuge for Women in 2009. Michelle gives an inside look from her perspective of Refuge for the last 11 years.  Michelle has a passion for women walking in the Identity that Christ has given to them.  

Kristi is a Co-Founder and the CEO of Safe House Project. Kristi shares in this episode her journey and passion to be involved with anti-trafficking.   Safe House Project is a non profit organization that brings awareness and funding to long term restorative homes. 

Kendra Garey has been the KY Refuge for Women program director for the last 4 years. She works with residents each day along the healing journey. Kendra shares her experiences from the last 4 years and insights she has learned along the way. 

Dr. Barton teaches Sociology and Gender Studies. She has authored several books including Stripped: Inside the lives of exotic dancers and her newest book about raunch culture that is coming out this Fall. 

Jani Lewis has been doing outreach to strip clubs and street workers for 20 years. Jani talks about these ministries and their focus. Jani is excited for the KY Emergency House to open on April 1 as a next step for her ministry. 

Jennifer Hohman is the co-founder of Houston 20.  She is involved in the oil and gas industry and is raising a family. Jennifer became aware of the issue of sex slavery and got involved in a major way. She has used her platform with executives in the oil and gas industry to raise awareness and dollars. Jennifer shares on this episode of her recent trip to Washington DC and how she is using the opportunity God has given her to get more beds available for survivors to recover. 

Paul and Jerri gave the second largest gift ever given to Refuge for Women with the recent sale of some businesses. They have a huge heart for charitable work and have become active in helping fund work combatting sex trafficking. 

Ricky Lynn has been working with human trafficking with the Kentucky Attorney General since 2017.  He gives a unique perspective of traffickers and law enforcements methods of identifying them.  

This session deals with the reason for a podcast.  It lays the groundwork of what content and people will be guests. 

Alia updates us on her journey at college and life since graduating Refuge for Women

Christa is the first graduate that is now employed at Refuge for Women. She talks about life after Refuge, working at Refuge, and the need for transitional living.