​Becky's Story By Hailey Anderton

​19 years old. That's when Becky told me she started “tricking for dope,” or prostituting herself to feed her addiction to crack cocaine.  She was three years younger than I am now.  Now sitting on the couch in front of me at 34 years old, Becky recounts the details of her past, her demeanor unapologetic and unashamed. 

Becky grew up in Gainesville.  She never knew her father, and she felt neglected by her mother throughout her childhood.  As a child, Becky told me she was molested by a close family member, joining the staggering 85% of women involved in prostitution report a history of sexual abuse in childhood. 

85% of women involved in prostitution report a history of childhood sexual abuse

Becky has been in and out of the jail system since she was 12 years old, and by 16, she was addicted to powder cocaine.  She described herself as promiscuous in her teenage years.  “My relationships were based on how much attention the person gave me, because I had no male attention whatsoever growing up," she said.

Soon after she had her first child at 19, Becky smoked crack cocaine for the first time to appease the child’s father, who was an addict himself.  “The craziest thing is that I smoked crack because I wanted to prove to him that I loved him,"  Becky said.  He went to prison soon after, leaving Becky addicted and alone.  In order to maintain her feed her addiction, she began exchanging sex for drugs.

“​Crack is like a rollercoaster ride. Once you start, you can't get off that train for a while...”
Becky, on how she entered the lifestyle

Becky was arrested and brought to jail many times.  There, she met women engaged in street prostitution, and she was introduced to their lifestyle.  Becky told me she was so innocent at the time, even though she had already been exchanging sex for drugs, she did not realize she could be exchanging sex for money. 

Women engaged in the lifestyle told Becky to find a specific woman who was known for being involved in street prostitution for a long time. When Becky was released from jail, she went downtown and found the woman sleeping on the ground outside St. Francis House. The woman began to teach Becky how to walk the streets.

Becky said she became infatuated with the street life, and wanted to be the best at it.  She was the youngest and the freshest, so she made a lot of money.  She remembers buying herself a laptop, clothes, and fancy jewelry to maintain her business.

“I was so green, I was so immature and naive...”
Becky, on her innocence prior to the lifestyle

Becky told me she was one of the first women available on Backpage in the Gainesville area.  Backpage was the world’s largest classified ad company.  It was also a profitable online brothel.  The vast majority of Backpage’s revenue derived from prostitution-related ads in the “adult services” section of the site. 

Last January, Backpage closed this section in response to multiple investigations and lawsuits. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report alleged that Backpage knowingly hid child sex trafficking and prostitution on the site by using a feature that automatically erased words such as "teenager," "rape," and "young," from their site. 

On April 6, however, federal agencies seized Backpage and charged it's founder as part of a 93-count indictment. Created Gainesville staff see this as a huge win, as this company was actively taking part in human trafficking.

Additionally, Becky mentioned many of the different streets and neighborhoods in Gainesville where prostitution and sex trafficking are especially present, mentioning 13th Street, 20th Avenue and Archer Road to name a few.  “In each area that has prostitutes, there’s a different way of prostitution.  There’s a different rhythm, a different routine,” Becky said.  
 
For nine years, Becky moved in a seemingly endless cycle, from the street to jail, sometimes prison, and back to the street.  There were patches in between in which she was clean, even enrolling in college at one point, but she told me that the allure of the street always brought her back.

“We asked God to point us to at least one woman that night...”
Alison Ungaro, Director of Created Gainesville, on the first time she met Becky

In 2013, a glimmer of hope in the form of Created Gainesville entered Becky’s life, though at the time she did not think she needed it.  Becky remembered walking out of one of the hotels on 13th street and seeing a big white van pull up with women inside.  She animatedly told me she was worried they would jump out like on COPS and arrest her for trespassing.  She frantically called her pimp to let him know she would be spending the night in jail.

Alison Ungaro, Created Gainesville’s founder and executive director, recalled this interaction as well.  “It was our very first street outreach ever, and our team was so nervous. We had butterflies, and it was all so new!"  Alison said.  At that point they had been looking for women for hours, and she remembered wondering if women would even want to talk them at all.  “We had asked God to at least point us to one woman that night.” A few moments later, the group saw Becky.

After an awkward silence, Alison told Becky the group brought a gift for her.  She said Becky put her phone down, looked at her in disbelief and replied “What? Who are you?”  Alison explained, “We’re from Created and we care about women who have been in tough situations and have found themselves out here working on the streets.”

Becky told me Alison asked her if the group could pray with her.  She remembers saying, “sure,” while thinking that she probably needed all the prayer she could get.  “I prayed with them and they gave me this little pink Bible in a paper bag.  The goodie bags weren’t fancy like they are now,” Becky said, smiling and shooting me a playful glance, “but I was thankful for that little bit, you know?”

Alison said during that first meeting she was struck by Becky's transparency. After talking with Becky and hearing about her life in the streets, Alison remembers Becky saying something that has forever remained a pivotal motivation for Created Gainesville Outreach.  While looking through the contents of her small pink gift bag, Becky thanked her and said, “No one's ever come out here to show us any care before.”

Becky recalled coming home that night, excited to show her pimp her new Bible and toiletries.  He mocked her, asking whether or not she was actually going to read it. 

“No one has ever shown any care before...that's why we go in search of our sisters...”
Alison Ungaro, Director of Created Gainesville, on the purpose of Created Gainesville

Romeo vs. Gorilla Pimps by Hailey Anderton

​​Becky described to me the different kinds of pimps she encountered in the streets.  She said was mostly involved with romeo pimps, pimps that psychologically manipulate and usually establish themselves as a boyfriend figure.  She also recalled encountering a well-known gorilla/guerilla pimp, which is a pimp that controls by violence and physical force, but she made sure to avoid him at all costs.  Recently, that man was sentenced to prison for life.

---

Almost a year later, Becky was back in jail.  She was not on good terms with her mother at the time, so she was not getting any visitors.  One day, she remembers that someone woke her up and told her she had a visit.  She told me she rolled right back over because she was so convinced they were lying.  When they yelled her name again, she got up and looked at the visitation monitor, seeing two women from Created Gainesville.  She went down to meet them.

“Hi, you may not remember us, but we used to come visit you in the streets!” The women said.  Becky recalls her surprise and confusion, “I was like, hi! This is weird, but hi!”  The women from Created stayed with her the entire visitation time that day.  After that, Becky said whenever she was in jail, Created would be there to listen to her and pray with her.  

A few months later, Becky was approved for the Work Release Program.  The clothes she entered jail wearing no longer fit, and the program threatened to send her back to jail if she could not find anything more appropriate.  She remembers asking some of the other women in the program if she could borrow clothes, but no one would help.  Then she remembered she had another option, and called Created Gainesville. 

Created was there for Becky.  She said women from Created brought her clothes, hygiene items, bed linens, and one volunteer even gave her a ride to get her social security card.

“...I could always lean on them.”
Becky on the way Created Gainesville constantly pursued her

Becky got clean, and started working at a fast food restaurant.  One of her old pimps found her and began to pursue her again, drawing her back to the street lifestyle.  This tumultuous relationship that led Becky back to the streets eventually came to an end, and Becky relocated to the other side of Gainesville. She describes this period as a steady decline, as she could no longer function on the street on her own.

“I couldn’t maintain a hotel room, so I was staying in dirty crack houses. It got really bad,” Becky said. She recalled an instance during this time when she had a knife pulled on her and her life was threatened, but some men protected her and removed her from the situation. Now, Becky attributes close calls like this in her past to God’s protection.

Months later, Becky said a friend saw her on the street and was worried for her well-being.  He got her a hotel room, and sent someone to pick her up and take her there.  She remembers showering and resting, finally having a moment to think. She had a realization. “I was just so tired, to a tired that I’ve never felt before, where I just really want out.” She knew she had to make a change.

​“At this point, I'm just tired... to a tired I've never felt before, where I really just want out.”
Becky

 While pulling out of the hotel in her rental car, Becky was stopped by law enforcement because her license tags were registered under a different vehicle.  She was taken again to jail for the final time.

“July 15th, 2015, I just woke up,” Becky said.  She called her mom and told her she had to get away from this lifestyle.  She tried to join a transitional housing program when she got out, but they did not have a bed for her.  This is a normal occurrence for women trying to escape the lifestyle.

“...it's hard for us women to find refuge and find places we can go to be safe”
Becky, on the lack of housing for women coming out of the lifestyle

​Becky got out of jail and spent the following Sunday with a Created Gainesville volunteer.  They went to church, ate lunch and saw the movie War Room.  Becky remembers going straight back to her mother’s house and turning the closet into a War Room to pray.  From that day on, Becky said she made a pact with herself that she would not be involved in anything unless her mother could be involved in it too.

From that point on, Becky started “churchin’ it,” as she called it.  Every day she had a Bible study, worship service, or women’s group to attend.  She was even going to a weekly women’s knitting club at a church where everyone was at least twice her age.  She said she knew she had to completely isolate herself from her old lifestyle to get out once and for all.

Becky was then admitted to House of Hope, a transitional prison ministry in Gainesville. She successfully worked her way up in the program, became head of the household in four months, and graduated in six months. Becky also got her job back, making it her goal to work harder than everyone else. She has been promoted multiple times over the years, and after each promotion, her management would tell her that she would not be able to be promoted again due to her background. Beaming with pride, Becky told me that she continued to prove them wrong, and recently she was made assistant general manager over the restaurant.

 “Just those little steps in my life took me to where I am today.”
Becky, on how God planted little seeds in her life

Becky said her involvement with Created Gainesville, especially in Created Care and Oasis, has been a transformational source of support in her life.   Becky said her self esteem is no longer based on “the opinions of the world,” and that she no longer allows things in her life that undermine her worth.  She told me her relationship with the Lord has transformed the way she thinks about herself. 

Not only did Becky say she has seen growth in her self-esteem and confidence, but she has also seen growth in her sense of community. She said that it was common in her previous lifestyle to look at other women on the street as competition, but when she started coming to Oasis meetings, her eyes were opened for the first time to the beauty of women empowering other women.

Alison said she has been amazed by Becky's natural inclination to pour out and mentor other women in Created. “The part about Becky that just leaves me in awe is that even though she has been off the streets for many years, part of her heart is still connected to the streets because she knows the women that are still out there. Becky remembers doing life on the streets with these women, she knows them by name and she knows their stories, and she wants so much to see those women come to healing and restoration like she has experienced herself,” Alison said.

Becky said one of the most significant transformations she has experienced is her willingness to share her story publicly.  She wants to share her story as much as possible because she says her story is evidence of the healing and redeeming work of Jesus, and the role of Created in her life.  On March 21st, Becky shared her story at Created Gainesville's Amazing Kick-Off event in front of a group of staff, donors and volunteer.  Becky boldly shared how God has redeemed her, concluding by sharing that she has been accepted for a position as an administrative assistant at a medical clinic, with normal hours and full benefits.  The crowd erupted with applause, as Becky beamed with pride. 
​

​*The real Becky boldly sharing her story at Created Gainesville's Amazing Give Kick-Off Event.  Apart from this final picture, Becky does not appear in any other photographs in this story.