What we have here are people who fall into this very young and then turn into addicts. Over the last three months, Cerny has met with police officers, attorneys, social service providers, and concerned citizens who've come together at the invitation of Monroe Free, head of Knox Area Rescue Ministries. Cerny says he's excited about a trip he and other task force members recently took to Nashville where they learned about an anti-prostitution program called Magdalene. Started three years ago by Episcopal Pastor Becca Stevens, the Magdalene project has provided a unique escape hatch for 20 former street walkers. Once in the program, former prostitutes are given intensive drug and alcohol treatment.
Counselors try to heal the emotional wounds left by years of sexual abuse and domestic violence.
The women learn skills they'll use later when they go in search of legitimate employment. All the while, the women in Magdalene live on the dime of convicted Johns, clustering together in group homes of their own. That's the beauty of it. Free hopes Rescue Ministries will provide a support staff person for the project and locate a home where recovering prostitutes can take refuge. With money eventually coming in from the busted Johns, Free hopes to link drug-abuse counselors at Helen Ross McNabb with social workers at Child and Family Tennessee.