The News Virginian (Waynesboro)
Marshall Pattie is the board president of Magnolia Rose and Jessica Garcia is the co-founder of the organization that rescues and rehabilitates victims of human trafficking.
Bob Stuart, The News Virginian
Magnolia Rose, a Waynesboro-based organization combating human trafficking, has received a $40,000 grant to help provide emergency shelter for the victims it serves.
The grant comes from The MolinaCares Accord, a community investment platform created to help disadvantaged populations through philanthropy, educational programming and community partnerships, said spokesman Ben Jackey of Molina Healthcare. The grant is in collaboration with Molina Healthcare of Virginia. Molina Healthcare provides government-funded healthcare through Medicare and the Health Insurance Marketplace.
The grant will offer some immediate funding for Magnolia Rose to assist human trafficking victims, said Marshall Pattie, the president of the Magnolia Rose board. The grant press release said the $40,000 will go towards sheltering the victims and addressing physical, mental and social health needs.
“This is a godsend. We don’t have to worry about near-term expenses,” Pattie said. Pattie said the formal Magnolia Rose organization has only been operating for nine months. But he said co-founder and executive director Kristan Crummett-Dollar has been reaching and rehabilitating human trafficking victims for several years.
According to the press release, Magnolia Rose has served more than 100 human trafficking victims since 2020.
“She is serving the entire state and has picked up girls out of state,” Pattie said of Crummett-Dollar.
Darrin Johnson, plan president for Molina Healthcare of Virginia, said in the press release, “MolinaCares is proud to support Magnolia Rose’s program, which is critical in assisting some of our most vulnerable and voiceless neighbors.”
Crummett-Dollar says in the press release that the grant will help the organization “support the victims in the Shenandoah community and equip them with the skills they need to live independent, healthy and safe lives.”
Pattie said Magnolia Rose has long-term plans to solidify its mission.
He said the organization is now attempting to raise funds to acquire a small farm where the human trafficking victims could stay. He said in addition to purchasing the farm, Magnolia Rose would like to add cottages where the victims could receive detoxification treatment before working on the farm.
“We want to get architectural plans to show the vision,” Pattie said.
He said the community support for Magnolia Rose has been overwhelming, and area churches are now inviting the organization to speak. Also raising the profile of the human trafficking crisis has been “Sound of Freedom,” a movie released July 4 starring Jim Caviezel and playing at Zeus Digital Theaters in Waynesboro.
The film, based on a true story, details how a federal agent embarks on the risky rescue of the sister of a boy he has already rescued from child traffickers. The federal agent quits his job and goes deep into the Colombian jungle to free the girl.
The original published story can be found here.