Today we’d like to introduce you to Tami Taunton.
Hi Tami, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Hi, I am Tami Taunton the founder of Hadassah’s Hope, a local strip club ministry.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has been hard, challenging BUT GOD has been faithful and introduced people into our lives to help build out as we go. I will say I have felt like we are building a plane while flying in the air.
We truly have an amazing volunteer people group of 500+ people that help us carry the load so we can reach the dancers and provide HOPE. Our desire is to build a restorative program to introduce life skills, computer skills, budgeting, holistic trauma healing, art therapy, cooking, etc.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Hadassah’s Hope is a gospel-centered outreach to women working in strip clubs in and around Jacksonville, Florida. Our volunteers are committed to ministering to women right where they are and pointing them to Jesus, who is our only HOPE. We reach women who are trafficked or stuck in the lifestyle of sexual exploitation. 95% of women have been sexually abused as children. 89% want out but feel there is no other way.
Every week, we go into all clubs that we can enter in the Jacksonville area for one hour just to love and serve these girls and share the love and hope of Jesus. We bring a gift and/or homecooked meal and serve it, putting it onto plates as a way to show the girls that they are loved and cared for. We simply hang out, enjoy good conversation, and offer prayer. No expectations or agendas. Simply love.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts, or blogs that help you do your best?
Elijah Rising podcast Rebecca Bender “In Pursuit of LOVE – a woman’s journey from trafficked to triumphant”, Knowledge of the Holy by AW Tozer. Relationships: A Mess Worth Making by Paul Tripp.
I have a ton that has been instrumental in the shaping of HH.
Contact Info:
- Email: tami@hhjax.com
- Website: https://www.hadassahshopejax.com/#/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hadassahshope/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hadassahshope/
