Saving abused women and girls is the mission of Anne Arundel County’s YWCA
The stakeout didn’t last long. It was obvious why. The officers in unmarked cars watched as the men entered and left through the motel door. Then they went in. The girl they rescued was 13 years old.
As Kristin Fleckenstein recounts this story “and they saved that girl from a living hell.”
A former board chair of the YWCA of Anne Arundel County, Fleckenstein was communications director for the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney office when this incident occurred.
Such stories are painful to hear. We want to turn away and believe that something so ugly can’t possibly be happening to girls in our communities.
But the people who are trying to save them won’t let us. Meet Molly Knipe and Amanda Rodriguez. For the past 18 years Knipe has served as Executive Director of the YWCA of Anne Arundel County. Rodriguez is Chief Executive Officer of the Baltimore-based organization TurnAround.
How the two met and the stories they tell are a made-for-TV-miniseries, the stuff of nightmares, and, thankfully, often happier endings.
At the YWCA
From its early beginnings in a white clapboard building on State Circle in Annapolis, the YWCA is regarded as the leading nonprofit organization offering women—and men—a comprehensive range of services that include residential support, counseling, legal, and community-based assistance. Its headquarters in Arnold, Maryland, unveils a suite of offices reflecting Knipe’s distinctive talent for interior design. Natural colors, soft lighting, and lots of cushions offer instant solace.
Typically, the entry point for service is the 24-hour hotline: 410-222-6800. Trained personnel respond to nearly five thousand calls a year, most related to domestic abuse. Says Knipe, “Someone could call and it seems benign. Or it could be someone in the middle of an attack, and it can flip very rapidly. That’s when you need to be prepared.”
Over the years she has insisted on professionalizing the staff. The 45 full- and part-time employees include three attorneys, several case managers, and some 20 advocates. All therapists are licensed. Program directors are masters-level prepared.
Of all its services the YWCA may be most well-known for efforts to curb domestic violence. As early as 1984 the organization operated Arden House, its first shelter for women. With increasing calls for help, it was obvious a newer, more permanent house was needed.
In 2019, after five years of planning and major fundraising, the YWCA opened the 10,000-square-foot Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Residence that, today, provides a warm, welcoming retreat for women and children from the chaos of their lives. It also serves male survivors. Known as the Domestic Violence Safe House, it can accommodate as many as 40 residents. Knipe’s innate sense of style infuses the building. Far from an institutional feel, the place is awash in soothing tones of pale blues and soft grays. The two-story house offers eight bedrooms, a bright, well-appointed communal kitchen and a large “great room” for gatherings. There’s even a playroom splashed with bright colors tempting enough for its smallest guests.
Safety for residents is paramount. While keeping its location confidential, the site is protected by locked gates and 24-hour security.
Knipe recalls a tragedy in vivid detail that accelerated her quest for a new shelter. According to published 2009 reports, two sisters, Sheena Blandford and Cheryl Timmons, were shot and killed inside a trailer in southern Anne Arundel County. The alleged suspect, Sheena’s estranged husband, was later shot and killed by police. The prior month, Blandford had taken out a protective order against him. What made the tragedy even worse was that Blandford had been a highly respected nurse at AAMC where her daughter also worked.
“It was one of the worst stories. She had gone to stay with her sister, and he came and killed them both. There were at least five to six hundred people at that funeral, including her mom with her walker,” Knipe says. “It was the first moment when I truly grasped the reach of domestic violence.”
Police often are involved in referring women. They conduct a “lethality assessment” to determine the level of risk and next steps. As Knipe notes, “Despite the assessment, if a woman says I am not okay, we let her in. We err on the side of caution. The Safe House is for people at imminent risk of homicide, who have no place to go where they are safe.” Women often want to go to parents or siblings, but “that’s the first place the abuser will go.”
Nearly half the women follow a police car and drive themselves to the house, or police bring them. They average in age 23 to 25. Nearly two-thirds come with children, from newborns to five years old.
T’s Story
When “T” was 16 she moved in with her boyfriend. Then the slapping started. It seemed normal because she’d seen it with her mom. “As an African American we call it fighting. It’s not abuse, because I’m fighting back, right?”
It wasn’t until she delivered her son that a skilled, trained nurse made her realize what it was. “The nurse asked me, has he ever put his hands on you? Has he ever choked you? Well, I said, I passed out. And she said, he’s not choking you. He’s strangling you.”
Despite the YWCA’s intervention, the pattern of abuse haunted her. Years later she married an Air Force mechanic and thought she’d found security. This time it wasn’t physical abuse: “I thought it was better than the last time because he didn’t hit me.” Instead, she became more and more isolated. Without friends or family nearby, she was financially dependent on him.
Then she got pregnant “so I was stuck.” She suffered from depression, both during and after the birth of her second son. Her husband began following her, cursing her. Others noticed. Finally, he accosted her in an elevator in their apartment building and threatened to kill anyone around her and then himself.
The YWCA rescued her a second time, this time with a three-month stay at the Safe House with her two sons. “No one wants to accept you are a victim because you have to accept that you are being overpowered by someone. I fought back by putting myself and my kids first. When I think about it that way it doesn’t feel as scary.”
For women like T the YWCA offers housing assistance once they leave the Safe House. Partnerships help to extend services. Anne Arundel Workforce Development assists clients in finding jobs. But housing is harder. One of the YWCA’s most urgent needs is more affordable housing.
“We could really use a greater number of landlords who will rent to our clients—and at market rates,” Knipe says.
Croghan Cottage
If the core of the YWCA story is a tale of two houses, Croghan is the second—named for Diane Croghan, a former board member without whom Knipe says “this house never would have happened.” Croghan knew about the YWCA as a member of AA County Executive Steven Schuh’s administration and was the driving force in securing $2 million in state funds for the house.
And like so much else today, Covid played a role.
It was during the pandemic that Knipe began getting calls about trafficking. Defined as “the movement, taking or harboring of another person for purposes of engaging in commercial sex work or in labor or services, “trafficking was not unknown to the YW. But the YW’s Safe House served women 18 years of age and older. There was nowhere to send younger girls.
“We always said we were going to do something,” Knipe recalls referring to the 7-acre site the YW acquired for the Safe House in 2015. “When we bought that property, we did a site plan that included a second safe house intended for trafficked youth.”
It was never a question of “if.” It was “when.”
That’s when “the perfect marriage of two really great programs”—as Rodriguez calls it—came together. The two leaders knew each other as professional colleagues running large nonprofit organizations serving women.
“I can build the house,” Knipe said. “I can run a program all day,” Rodriguez said.
What followed was a fast-tracked campaign. “Because of the success of the domestic violence house and many of the relationships we built,” Knipe says, “it was much easier to have those conversations a second time.”
Key funders stepped up to give $5 million, as they had with the first house. Maryland’s Department of Housing and Community Development gave $2 million. Dorothy Lennig, Executive Direct of the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy, has known Knipe since she came to the YW. “They do important work. They provide a breadth of service and come up with new ways to provide care, like the residence for trafficked youth. No one else is doing that. They were brave enough to try it.”
There also were private individuals, “angels” like John Vos, an Anne Arundel County resident who has been a strong supporter of the YW for years. “I did a little research. They fit right into what I want to do to make lives better for abused women and girls. Sex trafficking doesn’t get a lot of publicity. Molly and her crew are very compassionate and driven about what they do, and I’m happy to support them.”
Saving the Youngest Victims
Croghan Cottage is the only dedicated safe house in Maryland for sex-trafficked girls. Opened in 2024, the YWCA built and furnished it and provides therapeutic and other services to its residents. TurnAround leases the cottage and provides residential services.
Like the domestic violence house, the home belies the horrors its residents have suffered. Well-appointed with plush sofas, soft, natural tones and splashes of color, it features a library, a “Zen Den,” and an outdoor patio. Residents range from age 13 to 17. As of January, referrals have come in from every county in Maryland.
Amanda has known girls as young as 9.
“What is almost shocking is when you are talking to one of these girls,” Rodriguez says, “and you know she has experienced things well beyond her years, a level of trauma equivalent to active-duty military in a war zone, and you talk to them and they are so clearly a child. This child has been raped multiple times a day by different people, and I don’t know if I could as an adult handle this, and they look up at you and say, “Will you buy me candy?”
Girls are referred by police, social services, and even parents. They can stay as long as 18 months. “All of their choice has been taken away,” Rodriguez says. So, the first step is to allow the girl to choose her room. Then from a large closet she selects a comforter in her favorite color. These are children, after all.
One of their first needs is medical. “The longer someone has been trafficked, the worse their physical health is,” Rodriguez says. “Girls come in with bruises, high dental needs, and broken bones. As they get older, they experience hypertension and muscle issues. They are constantly going to doctor appointments.”
She explains that Maryland is a “hot spot for trafficking.” Its connection to Washington, D.C., the I-95 corridor, and extreme areas of poverty alongside highly affluent areas make it “ripe” for trafficking. Flights in/out of local airports can be inexpensive, which allow traffickers to bring in girls from anywhere in the country. Data is difficult to obtain. Quantifying the problem is challenging.
Rodriguez doesn’t hold back. “Girls are trafficked to wealthy people. It’s expensive. $300 to $1,000 an hour.”
And when it comes to gangs? “Gangs make more money selling people than selling drugs. With a child you can sell them over and over again. Gangs rape them to gain compliance. Then sell them to make money.”
The home is not a locked facility. “This is not a jail,” Rodriguez says. “For this population it has to be built on choice to break the trauma bond. They have to decide they want to be here. The level of success depends in part on the kids choosing to stay in the home and wanting services.”
What’s even more heartbreaking is that sometimes girls run away and return to their captors. It’s the only life they know.
To break that cycle and give these children a chance requires highly skilled staff and major funding. Federal and State government, as well as private donations, fuel the $6 million annual budget. Says Rodriguez, “These kids require a lot of services. Not just a roof over their heads, but all the clinical services.” She and Knipe are grateful to Congresswoman Sarah Elfreth and Senator Chris van Hollen for federal earmarks that provide a significant amount of the funding.
“Trafficking is something people don’t know about,” Rodriguez says. “We’ve got to be able to talk about it. Otherwise, these kids are hiding in the shadows. The reality is it could lead to their death.
“You’d be surprised. This is very much the crime that happens next door. Once you are trained to see it, you see it everywhere. And lots of it happens in affluent neighborhoods.”
What They Need
As nonprofit organizations, both the YWCA and TurnAround constantly seek financial support. But their needs go beyond that.
“Sometimes,” Knipe muses, “I’d just love to see someone donate a year’s worth of handyman help. Or landscaping. Or snow plowing when we get these big storms. Something practical and ongoing that we have to pay for all year long.” She oversees a 7-acre campus where its natural beauty and up-to-date buildings are part of the healing process for these women and girls.
Rodriguez also is forthcoming. “Other than prayers, I’d just like to fix the whole system so we wouldn’t have to face this.”
The women share a mission and a campus…and a passion for their work. How can they do what they do every day?
“I’m a religious person,” Rodriguez says. “My faith keeps me centered. And I do a lot of ‘if not me, then who?’ I feel like I’ve adopted eight children on any given day.”
Knipe watches “how people come in here injured. But what if we weren’t here? Where would these people go? I’m a true believer that you leave this world better than you found it. How many little children would not have made it past age five if we weren’t here?”
T is one of their success stories. Thanks to the YWCA’s intervention and continued support, she is completing her degree in early childhood education and has a steady job working with children with autism.
“Everything the YWCA has done has helped me become more independent” she says. “I’m raising my children to be men that don’t do what their fathers do.”
Anne Arundel County Domestic Violence hotline: 410-222-6800
Vulnerability meets opportunity, people who are targeted for trafficking may be:
- Political Instability, Poverty, Racism,
- Gender Inequality, Youth, Immigrants,
- Broken Systems, Addiction, Trauma,
- Mental Health Issues, Gang Involvement
People under 18 are inherently vulnerable to being trafficked. Risk factors include:
- Lack of resources/support system
- Mental health issues
- Educational barriers/lack of opportunities
- Homelessness or runaways
- History of physical or sexual abuse, neglect
- Pre-exposure to forms of violence
- Substance abuse
- Low self-esteem/self-worth
Behavioral signs that someone might be a victim of human trafficking:
- Significant change in behavior, including increased virtual behavior, or associates with a new group of friends
- Avoids answering questions or lets others speak for him or her
- Appears frightened, resistant, or belligerent to law enforcement
- Looks to others before answering questions
- Child lies about his or her age and identity
Author’s Note: The author expresses gratitude for all who were interviewed for this story and to “T” for sharing her personal journey. Editor’s Note: The decision was made to not publish photographs of the properties (safe houses) mentioned within this article to help protect confidentiality.
