“My wife and I started volunteering with Lives Worth Saving nearly two years ago. It’s a once-a month day-long program for women who have been arrested for prostitution. The women are served a nice hot meal and hear speakers from the DA’s office, Health Department, MPD, and others who present them with options to help them leave the street life. They’re given information about housing, job training, drug rehab, and health care. And they see, perhaps for the first time, that there is a way out. Those who attend the program can have that particular prostitution charge expunged from their record.
“I love arranging flowers and making centerpieces for the tables as a part of making the day special for them. Flowers are something women seem to particularly relate to, and I try to use bright, cheerful blooms that convey a message of love and caring. These women are not criminals in the same sense that a violent offender is. So many of the problems they have stem from abuse they’ve suffered at the hands of fathers, step-fathers, brothers, and other men. They’ve been treated as objects for so long that they don’t feel like they have any worth. They don’t know what healthy relationships look like; they don’t know what it’s like to be respected by a man. I’ve heard women say to the volunteers at the end of the program, ‘Today is the first time anyone has ever said to me: I love you.’
“Spending the day interacting with these women, serving them, and getting to know them, you see through the shell into the heart. You see a person who has never had a chance, who doesn’t know her value. They’ve lost any trust they ever had in men. That’s why I think it’s so important to show them that there are men out here who don’t see them as prey, who will honor them and treat them with the respect they deserve.”
“I love arranging flowers and making centerpieces for the tables as a part of making the day special for them. Flowers are something women seem to particularly relate to, and I try to use bright, cheerful blooms that convey a message of love and caring. These women are not criminals in the same sense that a violent offender is. So many of the problems they have stem from abuse they’ve suffered at the hands of fathers, step-fathers, brothers, and other men. They’ve been treated as objects for so long that they don’t feel like they have any worth. They don’t know what healthy relationships look like; they don’t know what it’s like to be respected by a man. I’ve heard women say to the volunteers at the end of the program, ‘Today is the first time anyone has ever said to me: I love you.’
“Spending the day interacting with these women, serving them, and getting to know them, you see through the shell into the heart. You see a person who has never had a chance, who doesn’t know her value. They’ve lost any trust they ever had in men. That’s why I think it’s so important to show them that there are men out here who don’t see them as prey, who will honor them and treat them with the respect they deserve.”
You can find Whit and Madge Deacon at the Overton Park Community Farmers Market, 389 E. Parkway N. (at the Pavilion) each Thursday, 3pm - 7pm, April through October.
Whit works on flower arrangements before a Lives Worth Saving day, held at Calvary Episcopal Church (102 N. Second Street at Adams) on the second Thursday of each month. Typically, 15-25 women are in attendance, in addition to the volunteers and leaders.
In addition to their work with Lives Worth Saving, Whit and Madge Deacon are a part of Thistle & Bee Enterprises. From the website: “Thistle & Bee exists to serve victims of human trafficking in West Tennessee. Our social enterprise is built around the manufacture and sale of products made with the honey and herbs produced in our apiaries and gardens. Survivors employed by Thistle & Bee will gain skills and experience needed to rebuild their lives. Thistle & Bee is part of nation-wide network of sister organizations inspired by Thistle Farms in Nashville, TN.”
Helpful Links ---
Thistle & Bee Enterprises: http://www.thistleandbee.org/
Thistle & Bee on FB: https://www.facebook.com/thistleandbeeenterprises/
To volunteer with Lives Worth Saving: http://www.restorecorps.org/contact/
To volunteer with Thistle & Bee: http://www.thistleandbee.org/volunteer
Related article by Commercial Appeal columnist David waters: Former prostitute's story inspires new effort to save others (3/18/2015)
Information about human trafficking in West Tennessee: Restore Corps
Thistle & Bee Enterprises: http://www.thistleandbee.org/
Thistle & Bee on FB: https://www.facebook.com/thistleandbeeenterprises/
To volunteer with Lives Worth Saving: http://www.restorecorps.org/contact/
To volunteer with Thistle & Bee: http://www.thistleandbee.org/volunteer
Related article by Commercial Appeal columnist David waters: Former prostitute's story inspires new effort to save others (3/18/2015)
Information about human trafficking in West Tennessee: Restore Corps
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