Courage Worldwide, Inc.

CWW’s program is designed specifically for the unique needs of minor female victims of sex trafficking. Courage House operates as a trauma-focused, long-term residential safe house, providing supervised 24/7 care by a compassionate, trauma-trained staff. The program is standardized while recognizing the unique attributes of each survivor: she has her own lived experience and survivor story. She has unique strengths and dreams for the future–dreams fostered through individualized care and reintegration pathways.

The issue of child sex trafficking is global and growing. It is our passion and vision to build Courage Houses in every city around the world in need of one so rescued child victims of trafficking will have a safe place to call home. Courage Worldwide engages in best practices and collaborates with strategic partners to ensure every child survivor has a safe home and the resources necessary to experience reintegration into society.

The purpose of Courage House is to provide a safe, loving environment for female, minor victims of sex trafficking with a comprehensive, holistic approach in mental health, psychosocial and educational services, as well as spiritual guidance and healing. Courage House is not just a structure or a building, a program or an approach. Courage House is a place where hope is given, healing is offered, and lives are restored, and it offers each resident a unique life plan (ULP) that brings healing to her body, mind, spirit and emotions. Courage Worldwide is committed to not only rescuing child victims of sex trafficking, but also to restoring their lives.

To provide the necessary and consistent funding for administrative overhead, Courage Worldwide opens Courage Cafés where available in addition to selling Courage Products, including handmade kimonos and freshly roasted coffee. Funding streams are consistently examined for additional diversification, ensuring the financial upkeep of the program does not solely rely on donations. Courage Worldwide additionally pursues grant-funding to plan for longer-term goals, such as expansion across further African countries.

Courage Worldwide was founded in 2005 as Courage to Be You, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose Founder/CEO, Jenny Williamson, learned in 2007 she lived in a world where children are sold for sex. She vowed to do something. As she researched the crime and its impact, she discovered that recovered victims experienced healing and hope when placed at a therapeutic home. At that time, she could only find 3 such homes in the United States for minor victims of sex trafficking and fewer than 7 internationally. With that knowledge, the CWW Board of Directors announced in 2008 they would build homes for these children in every city around the world, calling them Courage Safe Houses. The first of these homes under the CWW umbrella would be in Sacramento, California, where CWW offices were located, and in Tanzania, Africa, a location Mrs. Williamson had recently visited for business and established connections in. As she continued to research the issue of human trafficking and worked toward building these two homes, Mrs. Williamson created an advisory board, was invited to become a member of the California Attorney General’s Working Group on Human Trafficking, worked with the FBI Innocence Lost Task Force to determine best practices in serving this population, and filed papers to become a Non-Government Organization (NGO) in Tanzania, Africa.

As plans moved forward to build a 60-bed Northern California campus, it was disheartening to learn that between 2007 and 2009, the FBI reported 230 children were rescued in the Sacramento area alone. This information caused CWW to secure a partnership with local foster care agencies to train families in the unique needs of these children, as well as plan to replicate the safe house in various locations. Numerous community and training events were led by CWW to educate communities in identifying victims, understanding the effects of this crime and the symptoms of the complex trauma it produces, as well as raise funds for the two locations. Tens of thousands were exposed to CWW’s training and hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised to fund the two locations.

In addition to over 12 years of experience and documented success operating long-term therapeutic safe houses for minor victims of sex trafficking, CWW also has the capacity for expansion. All components of the Courage Safe House program—including accounting, data-collection, and employee training—were intentionally designed for prototyping and replication, both domestically and internationally.

Courage House NorCal was operational between mid-2011 through 2017 as a home for minor victims of sex trafficking. During that time, 41 survivors aged 12 to 17 were served with stays ranging from 3 months to 32 months, though CWW received over 325 calls for placement. 95% of the residents were in the foster care system. Due to California licensing changes, the home transitioned to an over-18 home exclusively in 2017. The over-18 home operated until the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when it was official closed. 15 survivors were served in this program. CWW continues to provide case management and resources for those former residents in California upon request.

Courage House Tanzania: Moshi opened in 2010 with capacity for 6 survivors and, as of 2022, now has capacity for 60 survivors and 20 of their children. The campus also has an onsite school for residents and a preschool for their children. Between 2010-2021, over 90 victims of trafficking were served. CWW's second campus in Moshi, Courage House Too, is a transition safe house with capacity for 40 residents over 18 and their children. On this campus, vocational, life, and job skills; English and computer lessons; and continued therapy, counseling, and mentoring are provided. College tuition assistance is provided for those pursuing higher education.

The third Moshi location is the Courage Café and Events Center. Opened in 2021, the café provides vocational training and employment opportunities to residents over 18. The café also provides local funding for CWW’s programs and hosts training, education, and awareness-raising events. In 2022, CWW opened offices in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with plans underway to open Courage House Tanzania: Dar es Salaam in 2023.