Doma Finds New Home at The Y!

As the old advertisement goes, before Martin Luther King, Jr. changed the world, he was just another kid at the Y. No one will ever know what the Y did for MLK—help with confidence, provide community, exercise body and mind? And now, in 2012, the Y may be doing something just as great to the people of this country—they house Freedom a la Cart—a social enterprise which teaches survivors of sex trafficking job and nutrition skills. The problem is that while survivors of trafficking have legendary loyalty and terrific work ethic, they have never kept a schedule, managed money, or worked in a job where they weren’t beaten and controlled. The rest of us grew up watching our parents’ careers, got our first jobs at 16, blew our first paychecks on cute jeans and music for driving fast. We messed up and learned work skills eventually. But survivors of sex trafficking didn’t do much of any of that, and they have kids to support and lives to create. After two years of great recovery with the likes of Amethyst, Maryhaven, Southeast and CATCH court, they are ready for the world. But they don’t have the work skills necessary to find, secure a job, let alone a career.

Doma—our little non-profit, doma means ‘home’ in many languages—saw this missing link to success in life, and we started our business. But it was homeless, just like our ladies; we cooked out of a bar, out of church kitchens, desperate for a kitchen we could afford, we searched for months. I know there is a cart-before-the-horse analogy here, but I’m watching my word count.

And here came the Y, marching down the street to help us so much, giving us a beautiful kitchen, an ice machine, making everything clean and lovely. And how have we repaid them? We’ve been late for two catering events. We showed up at one with thirty beautiful salads and no forks. Growing pains, being new to the business, working with an unskilled staff in a new space. We thank the Y by inspiring them to flex their patience muscles. Now we have an expediter, a work-list and checklist for every event, a timeline. Through the Y’s generosity, we are learning the skills that will keep Freedom alive—which is crucial for the well-being of our ladies. Everyone needs job skills, and o how the ladies love being a part of this life.

So right now, in many ways, Freedom is just another scrubby kid at the Y. But ten survivors of sex trafficking have the first job they can trust in their entire lives. And twenty more survivors know that when they are ready to work, Freedom and the Y are here for them. Even women in jail as I write this (yes, survivors of sex trafficking are often in jail—it’s a long story, call me) have been told while in shackles and tears there is legal and sustaining work for them when they are free—the relief and wonder in their faces make my life whole.

But this is just the beginning! What if every major city had social enterprise for survivors of trafficking? What if Cause Cuisine blossoms all over the country? What if women who have been shackled for a living have a chance at Freedom? The Y has many, many commercial kitchens! But we will start small and remember the forks, learn to keep an eye on the time.

So, what is the Y doing for women survivors of trafficking? It is immeasurable as the sea and strong as the sky. All we can do is say, thank you.

Kae Denino
US Project Coordinator
doma USA/Freedom a la Cart
Guest Blogger