Heather and Morgan Give Sanctuary
Heather Mohrman and Morgan Flinner of Bexley, Ohio
It’s easy to forget that many of us live our wonderful, safe community in part due to privilege that our parents (likely) gave us, and a dash of pure luck. Bexley's Heather Mohrman and Morgan Flinner feel it’s their responsibility to offer the broader community opportunities that have been afforded to us. Heather is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer and Morgan is the Development Officer for Sanctuary Night, a space for vulnerable women who need a place to rest, eat, connect and get resources.
Heather, who’d previously been a Court Probation Officer, and the other Co-Founder Hannah Estabrook came up with the idea of Sanctuary Night “as we were staring out the window at a neighboring non-profit on Sullivant Avenue. I saw several women whom I knew had warrants from the court simply walking by and figured the only way to connect with them was through arrest and all the trauma that comes with the criminal justice system. But it occurred to us there had to be another way to get help or find their way out besides getting arrested.” So the pilot for Sanctuary Night was born in 2017: a place open one night a week where women were safe from arrests, traffickers and drug dealers, and treated like a human.
The Sanctuary Night team
By 2019, the organization became a non-profit and was able to start fundraising and hiring staff, like Morgan, who knew Hannah from volunteering with the count program, CATCH, and Freedom a la Cart, a catering company that gives exploited women skills to re-enter the workforce. Now, Sanctuary Night is open six days a week and has had more than 3,000 visits. Their goal is to be a 24/7 drop-in center. Even being involved in this work and the neighborhood of Franklinton for most of my adulthood, I am still shocked at the large number of women we are serving (in our first eight months we served 557 women). There are hundreds of women in our city surviving this way,” Heather says.
"Their workforce development team, of which 11 are peer supporters who have experienced human trafficking, have had to ecover, put their families back together, manage behavioral health and rise out of poverty – only to come back to help others out of similar situations. “They are bright shining lights. They work hard to love one another and the women we serve,” Heather says. “Many of them I knew from my days at the courthouse when they were in the criminal justice system and I get to see them on this other side: talented, brilliant, and empowered.”
Morgan adds, “The women that we serve are mothers, sisters, and friends that want to live a life full of love and happiness. In that way we are all similar. When I started I thought I would teach these women life skills but instead they have taught me lessons in resiliency. I'm inspired everyday by the women we serve and the women I work with and just feel so lucky to have landed here."
Heather says moments of confirmation that Sanctuary Night is truly helping happen all the time, from seeing peer supporters with “clearness and kindness in their eyes as they help women who are where they once were” to a recent time when she saw two women she knew from 15 years ago who are still on the street. “With tears in their eyes they give me a real hug. They cling to us because we are their only safe place and we know them. I see the possibility that maybe, just maybe, this time they will make their way out. And if it's not this time we will be here for the next time too- and maybe that will be the time.”
How can you help?
Donate clothes
Sponsor our Fundraiser
Provide a meal
Visit us today! www.SanctuaryNight.com
