Mission
To educate and engage the community to prevent sexual exploitation and to provide comprehensive, restorative care to survivors.
Vision
An engaged and compassionate community where sexual exploitation is not tolerated, human rights and dignity are valued, and the lives of victims are being restored.
Programs
- Community Engagement – To activate the community and the church by raising awareness of the reality of human trafficking and sexual exploitation and offering specific ways to get involved.
- Prevention & Outreach – Educate the public on risk factors for exploitation, protect youth and adults from becoming victims, and provide advocacy for those who do.
- Moms & Kids Program – Provide housing, holistic programming, and therapeutic services for survivors of sexual exploitation and their children.
Location
We serve participants in Lake, Cook and DuPage counties of Illinois (Chicagoland). Face-to-face programming is offered at our Adult & Child Development Center in Libertyville, IL. Some programming is offered virtually to reach participants not based near the center. We collaborate and partner with a variety of organizations in Chicagoland and throughout the US to provide high impact, comprehensive services. Our long-term recovery program clients may be referred from anywhere in the US and Chicago-based clients may be referred to reciprocal organizations for safety or specialty programs.
History
Stepping Stones Network is a program of Oasis Productions, a faith-based not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded by Suzanne Baker Brown in 2000. Oasis was incorporated in 2003 in Chicago, IL and received its tax-exempt status in 2004. Oasis Productions’ mission is to help people find whole life health (spirit, soul, and body) so that they can step into the life they were created to live.
Oasis Productions was originally formed to cover Suzanne Baker Brown’s teaching ministry and women’s retreats under the name “Spiritual Spa”. The ministry helped people who have come out of abusive and destructive situations rebuild their lives and incorporated elements to heal from sexual violations. This eventually led to getting involved in the issue of sex trafficking. From 2010 through 2014, Suzanne traveled the US and India, her work included raising awareness about the issue of sex trafficking and encouraging leaders to take action.
In 2011, Janet Kenny and Ron & Kathi Hesselgrave formed Stepping Stones Ministries of Chicago after recognizing a high prevalence of trafficking in the Chicago area and a lack of trauma recovery services, housing, and employment alternatives for those who had been victimized. In 2014, Stepping Stones Ministries became a division of Oasis Productions and was re-envisioned and rebranded as Stepping Stones Network (SSN).
2014 – Present
2014 – Began educating the Lake County community and receiving mentorship from Wellspring Institute.
2015 – Began serving female adults and gathered Lake County social service agencies to educate them and encourage collaboration.
2017 – Discovered a national gap in services for trafficked women with children. Raised funds and secured a home in Gurnee, IL to develop one of the first programs in the US to serve this audience.
2019/20 – Opened the Moms & Kids Program in a communal residential setting to serve 4 families. Received CARF Gold Accreditation. Hired our first survivor to serve on staff.
Nov 2021 – Closed the communal residential facility and transitioned to a new housing model, offering independent living in apartments throughout Lake, Cook and DuPage County.
2022-24 – Opened the Adult & Child Development Center in Libertyville, IL. Increased capacity to 21 families and budget to $1.1M.
