Wellspring Living

She was only three months old when it first happened to her. It would not be the last time. Eventually removed from her home and placed in foster care, M won’t say how many times she has been sexually abused by people who were supposed to take care of her.

M also won’t say how old she was when she was first lured into prostitution, but she admits to living enslaved for years in soiled hotel rooms and dark apartments. She was underfeed to keep her skinny, dressed in provocative clothing to make her seem less innocent, and forced to work every day in order to earn money for the boyfriend who claimed to love her.

To work meant to be raped as many as a dozen times a day by men of all ages, races and social strata.

When M arrived at Wellspring for Girls she was seventeen years old. She refused to be embraced by those who wanted nothing more than to love her and help her. In M’s mind, affection was not a gesture of love; aggression kept her a safe distance from those she didn’t know. She trusted no one.

M is not alone in her experience. One in four girls suffers sexual abuse before reaching adulthood, most often before her eighth birthday. Those who become exploited as child prostitutes spend as many as three years of their lives being raped.

It is estimated three hundred girls suffer M’s experience each month in Georgia.

To date twelve girls, including M, have been through the Wellspring for Girls program. There they learn to trust again, to love and forgive themselves, and to restore the kind of normal life any young girl wants and deserves to have.

While at Wellspring for Girls, M participated in their academic program and graduated with an academic diploma. At the end of the graduation ceremony she turned to the staff who were there to share the pivotal moment with her.

A smile on her face, M reached out and hugged them, each and every one.

Wellspring Living needs volunteers to serve as academic mentors, to teach the residents independent living skills (budgeting, interviewing, social skills, computer skills, etc.) and work in its gently used stores located in Duluth and Tyrone, GA. To learn more about volunteering, call Wellspring Living at 770-631-8888.