reCollect2: Sponsors new podcast offering hope and inspiration for victims of human trafficking

PEWAUKEE, WIS. – A chance meeting of two women at a local networking event launched both a friendship and a partnership to create much-needed awareness about human trafficking, in Wisconsin and nationwide.

Ann Riphenburg’s business, reCollect2 Company, is co-sponsoring a new podcast of the
Redeem & Restore Center, a Pewaukee-based organization dedicated to shining a light on the dark issue of human trafficking. The podcast, Life Empowered, features stories of redemption, encouragement and inspiration.

Chaplain Krista Hull of the Redeem & Restore Center interviews people who have emerged from adversity, significant life trials and even human trafficking. The podcast follows a premise that every human has a worthy purpose, and gifts and abilities, to contribute to the betterment of society. People are not objects to be owned.

Life Empowered can be found on the Redeem & Restore website and Apple podcast. Riphenburg and Hull met at a Waukesha County Business Alliance event. Riphenburg was impressed both by RRC’s mission, and Hull’s energetic approach and insightful strategy to love, support and restore victims and survivors of human trafficking.

“I was struck by Krista’s ability to make relatable experiences and stories accessible with this podcast,” Riphenburg said. “Its content offers a blend of faith, hardships and vulnerability that provide hope and encouragement to listeners. reCollect2 Company is excited and honored to partner on this powerful platform.”

“What shines brightly to me is the symbolic parallels between our organizations – the mirrored theme of transforming, restoring and making new,” Hull said of the partnership.
Riphenburg and Hull were recently recognized for their entrepreneurial efforts by The KNOW Women in the inaugural KNOW WOMEN MKE book, launched Nov. 12.

Human trafficking is notoriously underreported. As shocking as these numbers are, they likely represent only a fraction of the actual problem:
 Human Trafficking is a $150 billion global business (Forbes.com 2/2/2020)
 79 percent of human trafficking is sexual exploitation; 18 percent is forced labor
 20 percent of trafficking victims are children (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
 The U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline experienced a 20 percent increase in calls
from 2018 to 2019 (Polaris Project 2019 Report)
 Wisconsin’s top four cities for reported human trafficking: Milwaukee (51 percent),
Madison (22 percent), Appleton (16 percent), Eau Claire (11 percent) (WI Dept of Justice
Dept of Criminal Investigations Human Trafficking Bureau)

The Redeem & Restore Center educates the public on human trafficking statistics, teaches how to identify human trafficking situations, and invests in its volunteers through workshops, training and personal growth. The organization plans to open a restorative care home to provide treatment in all five areas where victims have endured trauma: physical, emotional, psychological, relational and spiritual.

“Redeem & Restore was built on the foundation that no matter your past circumstance, or what others have told you, you have immense value!” Hull said. “Our core mission is to provide guidance, hope and inspiration to survivors of human trafficking.”

More information about Redeem & Restore, including how to make a tax-deductible donation or become a volunteer, is available at https://www.redeemandrestore.org/. reCollect2 Company is a family-operated business in North Lake, Wis., 30 minutes west of Milwaukee. Focused on helping organizations achieve their recycling and sustainability goals, it supplies the reCollect2 recycling receptacle, a three-piece system that complements today’s eco-inspired spaces commonly found in hotel guest rooms.

Manufactured in the USA, the reCollect2 recycler is found in hotel guest rooms and commercial offices throughout the U.S. and Canada. More information is available at www.reCollect2recycler.com