Marissa's House
Twelve apartments, and the one thing we will never publish: where they are.
Marissa's House is Call to Freedom's supportive housing site. It exists so that a survivor does not have to choose between getting help and keeping her children.
The building
Built for families, not just for individuals.
The first one was not enough. Seven efficiency apartments, adults only. Survivors had to leave in order to be reunited with their children, and some of them did not make it back.
Where the name comes from
In August 2015, at the Sturgis rally, Becky met a girl named Marissa.
That encounter started all of this. It set the wheels in motion for Call to Freedom to become its own 501(c)(3), and for the housing project that carries her name. The full story is here.
The first Marissa's House was a seven-unit apartment complex of efficiency studios. It gave adult women a safe place to live while they rebuilt, and it worked. But the units were too small to hold a family, so a survivor who wanted her children back had to leave the very support that was making her recovery possible.
Survivors told Call to Freedom that directly. The new building is the answer to what they said: a secure twelve-unit complex with one, two and three bedroom apartments, so that reunification does not cost someone the roof over her head.
Living there
Housing, and everything that has to come with it.
A roof on its own is not recovery. Marissa's House is staffed and connected to the whole Continuum of Care, not a set of keys and a good-luck handshake.
Case management on site
An advocate who knows the household and coordinates across every other service.
Mentoring
Connection with a mentor alongside the formal support, because isolation is what made people vulnerable in the first place.
Transportation
Rides to court, treatment, appointments and work, through staff and the volunteer transportation team.
Occupational therapy and life skills
Practical capability: routines, budgeting, cooking, systems, the things trafficking interrupts.
Employment support
Work with an employment specialist on job placement and keeping the job once it starts.
Mental health and recovery
Referral and coordination for trauma therapy and chemical dependency treatment with trusted partners.
We will not tell you where it is.
The location of Marissa's House is confidential, and it stays that way. Residents are hiding from people who have already hurt them and in many cases are still looking. An address on a website is a map for the wrong person.
This is also why you will not see photographs of the real building or of the people living in it here. The images on this page are illustrative. If that feels like a gap, it is the correct gap.
If you need housing support, call 605-759-3565. Referrals are made through our team, not through the door.
Built by partners
Eight Days of Hope helped build it.
Call to Freedom partnered with Eight Days of Hope, an organization that grew out of the need to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, to construct the new complex. They provide a refuge of physical, emotional and spiritual healing to human trafficking survivors.
The building exists because a community decided it should. Local businesses, donors, volunteers and trades all put something into it.
Keeping it open
A building is a commitment, not a purchase.
Rent assistance, utilities, furnishings, staffing and maintenance run every month whether or not anyone is thinking about it. Monthly partners are what make a twelve-unit promise possible to keep.
The $150 monthly tier goes directly to housing navigation, rental assistance, and this site.
Twelve apartments only stay open if somebody keeps them open.
Rent assistance, utilities, furnishings and staffing run every month. Monthly partners are what make a promise like this one possible to keep.