Impact Report: Outreach to Vulnerable Women in Wisconsin

Background

The Benedict Center is a Wisconsin-based interfaith organization dedicated to advocating for a fair justice system and helping women impacted by the criminal justice system find safety and healing. Sisters at the center deliver gender-responsive, trauma-informed care grounded in a harm reduction framework that accepts women where they are.

To address the severe vulnerabilities faced by women in the street sex trade and survivors of sex trafficking, the Benedict Center operates the Sisters Program, which provides low-barrier crisis stabilization, street outreach, and advocacy, and the Sisters Corridor Team—a learning community uniting leadership, survivor consultants, and religious congregations to coordinate regional anti-trafficking efforts across the Milwaukee-Chicago corridor. To maintain these vital safety net services, Sr. Linda Szocik of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis reached out to SRW for a grant.

Challenge

Women involved in the street-based sex trade and human trafficking face extreme barriers to traditional care systems, including systemic trauma, mental health conditions, substance use disorders, homelessness, and criminal justice involvement. Many standard community resources are high-barrier or punitive, leaving these women without basic life necessities, physical safety, or consistent healthcare. Furthermore, navigating complex systems to obtain housing, medical support, and long-term recovery requires intensive case management from trusted advocates who can walk alongside survivors without judgment.

Solution

With their SRW grant, the Benedict Center maintained low-barrier outreach and direct services through its Sisters Program, including:

• Street Outreach & Mobile Case Management: Teams conducted wellness checks, distributed harm reduction supplies, provided direct transportation, and connected women to healthcare, legal advocacy, and addiction treatment.
• Sisters South Drop-In Center: Provided a safe refuge where women accessed immediate respite, hot meals, showers, safe spaces to sleep, crisis stabilization, and personal advocacy.
• Housing Advocacy & Basic Needs: Delivered case management and direct financial assistance for urgent needs, including security deposits, relocation expenses, transportation, hygiene supplies, prescription copays, and groceries.
• Systemic & Regional Collaboration: Fostered interagency ties between service providers, housing partners, faith communities, and anti-trafficking advocates, while advancing public health strategies that deflect individuals toward treatment rather than incarceration.

Results

The funding secured critical safety net services and yielded measurable community impact:

• Direct Outreach: Outreach teams connected with and served 293 women on the street.
• Drop-In Services: The Sisters South Drop-In Center hosted 49 women seeking refuge and continuous care.
• Individual Transformation: The program assisted survivors in securing long-term stability. One 35-year-old survivor who spent over a decade being trafficked, engaged with outreach workers to address her physical and mental health. After transitioning through a specialized Safe Haven program, her Sisters Case Manager successfully placed her into permanent housing.
• Systemic Impact: The grant reinforced cross-sector partnerships across Milwaukee and attracted essential matching funds for public grants, ensuring multiple pathways to safety, housing, and dignified care for vulnerable women.