There’s an Angel Among Us and she lives in Houston!
Kathryn Griffin Townsend is the daughter of the famous late Ed Townsend, composer of “Let’s Get It On”. She was lured into “the Life” at 19 years old and was trafficked throughout the country. She was kept in dog cages, forced to eat dog food, tortured and left for dead. She was moved by airplane throughout the country and her traffickers kept her well drugged so she wouldn’t be a problem. She didn’t mind as it numbed the pain and when she was arrested in Houston as a prostitute…..she was hopelessly addicted to crack cocaine.
When she was released from jail in 2003 she was enrolled in a new program The Harris County Start Drug Court. She excelled and began a program to help other girls like herself – “Been There Done That” and provided classes for girls getting out of “the Life” every week. She volunteered for Councilman Peter Brown and did such a good job he hired her as Outreach Director at $500 per month. That gave her the confidence to move in a positive direction and later she also worked for Councilman Adrian Garcia and encouraged him to run for Sheriff. He won and gave Kathryn her first law enforcement badge to direct the Human Trafficking Program for the City of Houston. See her pic to left giving a HOE Class (Helping Others Excel) and to the right, relaxing at home with her dog Canilla.
She now provides “Been There Done That” classes regularly at the Precinct 1 office, the Texas Dept of Corrections, Santa Maria Hostel and Star of Hope Buckner for over 1,000 girls who all look up to her. This is the only program like this in the United States and a University of Texas study verified that her program has the lowest recidivim rate of any program in the country! However many of the trafficking victims are ending homeless as there is a need for beds in Houston and across the country. ” There are plenty of shelters for dogs she said, but we need to provide for our human population too. Music still runs in her veins and the song Favor of God by Shirley Murdock, keeps her going.
Kathryn has helped to rehabilitate thousands of girls through her dedication, passion and love….because of her they have a positive future.
I was lucky enough to visit her program and attend the Harris County Precinct 1 Back2School Basketball Tournament – an amazing event for 1500 youth where we recruited some of the girls she is working with to volunteer. Hosted by Alan Rosen Constable of Harris County Precinct 1, this event brought the whole community together. A basketball game between pro players and youth kicked off the event with music by the high school band, cheerleaders, community resource organizations, and local personalities. All were provided lunch and offered health check ups, haircuts, eye exams, or manicures. Target was a huge sponsor of this great event for the community and provided school supplies for all ages and even gave away a thousand boogie boards for those that wanted to learn to swim! See a few pictures below:
