Northern Michigan Woman - Jan/Feb 2024 Fitness Issue
Hiking to Heal
Brittany Jacobson 2023-12-22 13:28:34
“After that hike, I feel like I can do anything. I’m ready for my next season of healing.” I was sitting at the base of a trailhead connected to the Pacific Crest Trail in California with 12 survivors of human trafficking. They had just completed a section of one of the longest trails in North America, and this one particular survivor was so proud of herself.
I couldn’t help but smile, thinking of all the small moments that had culminated into this experience for both of us — her never having hiked before, and me, a 20-something with a dream of bringing trafficking survivors into the great outdoors, challenging women to step outside of their comfort zones and diversifying the outdoors in the process.
As a military kid with a very outdoorsy dad and a supportive and up-for-almost-anything mom, I grew up hiking, kayaking, traveling and experiencing new things constantly. I had no idea those experiences in my youth would end up shaping my 20’s the way they have.
This journey didn’t start outdoors, but being outside has certainly become an integral part of our work with survivors of human trafficking over the last nine years. I started doing outreach into strip clubs and illicit massage parlors at 19 years old in Grand Rapids, providing holistic resources to women who felt unsafe in the sex industry. What our small team of six realized early on is that many women have experienced sexual violence, human trafficking and sexual exploitation in these places.
We were desperate to provide a different community — one focused on whole-body health and wellness. One where women could feel safe, seen and heard. One where we were all in this — whatever “this” looked like for all of us — together.
In 2017, I felt a deep need to connect my love for the outdoors with our anti-trafficking work. Our organization began to host day retreats, where we would paddle board, kayak, snowshoe and hike together. We realized the impact the outdoors can have on one’s healing journey. At these events, we were able to build deeper relationships outside of the sex industry and get to the root causes of exploitation in these women’s lives. We could do life together in a new waymand connect women to resources they need to thrive.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, we started focusing solely on weekend getaways and day retreats for survivors — both survivors we’d met on outreach into the sex industry, and also expanding to provide our movement and nutrition curriculum to safe houses across the country at no cost. At our weekend getaways, we provide outdoor education, nutrition education, art therapy and other trauma-informed coping mechanisms. We also figure out how we can support each woman moving forward, setting her up for success, sometimes even providing microloans for business start-ups.
Since 2020, we’ve summited mountains in Alaska and California. We’ve paddled waterways and hiked dunes in Michigan and Kentucky. In all, we’ve hiked and paddled nearly 300 miles with trafficking survivors and safe house staff members. Whether we’re here in Michigan or on a glacier in Alaska, the consensus is the same: We can do hard things, and it’s more fun to do those hard things together, within a supportive community of like-minded women.
We’ve been dreaming about what it might look like to have our own retreat center, and this past summer, my husband Joel and I took over The Inn at Breezy Hill Farm — a bed and breakfast in Bellaire, MI. We’ve renamed it to The Park Street Inn, and we’ll be doubling the amount of retreats in 2024 in this space, bringing nearly 100 survivors into our inn.
We’ll be able to hire survivors of human trafficking on our property, and even offer an emergency housing component in partnership with The Coalition to Combat Human Trafficking out of Traverse City.
We’ve been a nonprofit organization for the last couple years, but we were looking for a way to become less donor-reliant and more financially sustainable. So, we’ll continue to run this as an inn, on the weekends we don’t have retreats planned. Every stay will directly support our anti-trafficking work.
We’re really excited about the growth we’ve experienced and can’t wait to see where this next season will take us. Joel and I have immensely enjoyed becoming innkeepers so far. We love making breakfast, hiking with guests and providing unique experiences here in Northern Michigan.
After leading trips across the country, and even trips to the Canadian Rockies several times over the past three years, running an inn just feels right.
If I’ve learned anything from this journey, it’s that nothing is wasted. Years of baking cupcakes and other baked goods to bring on outreach has made me a decent innkeeper, having to make breakfast daily for guests. Years of hiking as a kid and traveling to beautiful places has made me a better traveler, able to lead trips of our own. Becoming a certified SUP instructor has made me a better paddle boarder, able to bring these experiences to women across the country.
Nothing is wasted. What a gift it is to be able to serve women in our community. I don’t take our work lightly and consider it an absolute joy and honor to walk alongside trafficking survivors.
Brittany Jacobson is the founder of Freedom Summit Adventures, a nonprofit focused on whole-body health and wellness for survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Brittany and her husband also run The Park Street Inn, a bed & breakfast in Bellaire, MI, that directly supports the work of Freedom Summit Adventures. They are foster/adoptive parents, and love being outside and traveling as a family.
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Hiking to Heal
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