Our Mission and Vision
Our mission
LifeWay Network joins the global movement against human trafficking by providing safe housing for women who have been trafficked and offering education on human trafficking.
Our vision
LifeWay Network envisions a world in which the trafficking of human beings is eradicated and every survivor is strong, connected and free.
Since its founding in 2007, LifeWay Network has emphasized the power of collaboration in creating the trafficking-free future we all envision. We believe in bringing people together to form a community and address a global issue with a significant local impact. Human trafficking occurs around us. It affects people in our neighborhoods. We must join together to end trafficking today and empower survivors to reclaim their lives.
Our values
When we as an organization must make a decision or solve a problem, we look to these values as our guide for making ethical choices and staying true to our mission.
Integrity
We do the right thing and build trust in pursuit of our mission.
Community
We have a foundation of mutual learning, compassion, love and accompaniment.
Empathy
We honor the truth of survivors’ perspectives and the impact of human trafficking as a global reality.
Courage
We persevere through risk and fear to achieve our goals.
Empowerment
We promote self-agency and foster personal growth to be our best selves.
Our history
LifeWay Network was founded by Sister of Charity Joan Dawber to combat human trafficking. The organization was granted nonprofit status on March 14, 2007, but her call to serve survivors goes back even further:
“Whenever I am privileged to have a conversation with survivors of human trafficking, sooner or later the conversation turns to the question, ‘Why did you create LifeWay Network? What made you think about doing this?’ It is a good question and not always easy to answer. If you do not believe in God, it even becomes more difficult to answer. It was a call!
In the early 2000s as a woman religious, I began to hear about the horrors of human trafficking; in particular the trafficking of women and children. Initially I found it upsetting, and scary and really did not want to be involved in it in any way. And yet we as sisters had been invited by our congregational leadership to learn about human trafficking and, in particular, to pray about it, especially for the survivors. So, I prayed and my prayer changed me.
In the beginning there was simply a growing inspiration that something needed to be done to help women survivors of human tracking. It became clear they needed somewhere they could go and be safe with people who care about them. What could I do? I was becoming aware that I needed to do something but I knew I could not do it alone. Then I began to understand I would not be doing it alone — this was God’s initiative, not mine. There was an urgency ,and women religious from all over metro New York got together… and it came into being.”
In 2009, LifeWay Network began offering short-term emergency stays to survivors of human trafficking. In 2012, we began operating long-term transitional safe houses.
Sister Joan was interviewed on the podcast “In Good Faith” about her call to found LifeWay Network. Click the link above to hear her story in her own words.