Love Heals: Magdalene St. Louis

Women arrive to Magdalene House emotionally bruised and broken, survivors of horrific experiences. Some come from prison, some have been on the streets for years, living lives of addiction, sex trafficking and abuse. Going far beyond simply providing creature comforts, the nonprofit residential program gives them the keys to healing and rebuilding their lives, offering hope for a brighter future.

The simple philosophy behind Magdalene House’s mission is powerful: love heals. It accepted its first residents this June; each was given a key to the house, a warm meal and a welcome basket. The intensive, two-year program includes outpatient therapy, as well as education and vocational training and employment opportunities. The end goal, explains executive director Tricia Roland-Hamilton, is for each woman to cultivate an honest, sober and self-sufficient life.

Magdalene House helps fill an acute need in St. Louis, one of the top 20 cities in the country for sex trafficking, Roland-Hamilton says. The women it takes under its wings often have nowhere else to turn, literally. “We’re the only entity of our kind in the region that serves adult women coming out of lives of sex trafficking, violence and early childhood trauma,” she notes. “On average, our women are first sexually exploited under the age of 10, and they haven’t completed school because they’ve gotten tied up in a life of unfortunate circumstances.”

The nonprofit is an offshoot of Magdalene Nashville, which has been transforming women’s lives for nearly two decades. Although not religiously affiliated, Magdalene St. Louis includes an interfaith collaboration of varying clergy to help support the women on their healing journey. It purchased its Old North St. Louis home in 2014, then spent the next year transforming the four-story, 10,000-square-foot space into a serene, beautiful haven. It can accommodate up to 11 residents and currently houses six women. It includes large, sunlit bedrooms, communal living areas, multiple kitchens and a library.

To raise much-needed funds—the organization is entirely privately funded—Magdalene House will host a major fundraiser, A Time to Heal, Nov. 8 at the Contemporary Art Museum. “The women will be writing a play and songs for the evening, and there will be a performance. Our focus that night is all about who our women are,” Roland-Hamilton says. The goal of the free evening, she adds, is to attract corporate sponsorships and pledges.

The women at Magdalene House have a hard road ahead, but they’re not on the journey alone. Magdalene House is a true community, Roland-Hamilton says, with a dedicated and passionate staff helping them every step of the way. In fact, the staff believes so fervently in the nonprofit’s philosophy—love heals—that many of them have inked it permanently on their forearms. “We relate to our women as equals,” Roland-Hamilton says. “We’re in this together, and we’re all learning and building this community together. We do a lot of crying in this house, and we do a lot of laughing, too.”

Photo Courtesy of Magdalene St. Louis

[Magdalene St. Louis is a residential program designed for women recovering from prostitution, sex trafficking, abuse and addiction. Pictured on the cover: event organizers Leah Clyburn, Tricia Roland-Hamilton, Laura Chappell and Mike Kinman. For more information, call 314.338.5126 or visit magdalenestl.org. Cover design by Jon Fogel; cover photo by Bill Barrett.]