Written by Connor Spelta

A pair of thickly cushioned blue couches sit in the living room of a small house in Chattanooga. To the women who are familiar with the building and the organization it hosts, the couches are so much more than a comfy piece of furniture. 

On the four cushions, they can rest with the knowledge that they are safe. They know, at least for the time being, that they are free of the dangers they face outside of the Streetworks property. 

No men are allowed here, and no one enters the house without crossing paths with leadership team member Karen Brown.

“The relationship starts on the street with outreach… and then we let them know about the house,” explains Brown. 

Every Tuesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. the house is open to Chattanooga’s sex workers as a place to eat, rest, bathe and do laundry. All of the services they offer here serve their mission to meet the immediate physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of the women.

StreetWorks, a subsidiary of the Clear Creek Church of Christ, began ministering to the women of Chattanooga in September of 2023. 

Brown previously performed prison ministry at Silverdale where she made connections with many of the girls that the organization ministers to today. While evangelization remains at the center of their ministry, conversion is by no means required of the women. 

“We never push a bible study, or prayer, or anything on the ladies that come here, that is totally voluntary,” Brown says. 

Their priority is building lasting relationships with the women they serve, and they help women connect with other services when their needs extend beyond the scope of what StreetWorks offers. They are currently entering a partnership with another local non-profit to help fill in the gaps. 

The new partner, Love’s Arm Outreach, offers a crisis shelter that is similar to the StreetWorks house, but it offers housing for up to thirty days to those its website describes as, “survivors of trafficking, addiction and all forms of commercial sexual exploitation.” 

This description is fitting because often women are not willing participants in sex work. They are at much higher risk for assault (sexual or otherwise), trafficking, addiction, and abuse than the general population. Often, many of these factors can co-occur leading women to feel trapped in sex work. 

Many of these crimes go unreported for victims often fear arrest. Tennessee Law classifies prostitution as a class C misdemeanor. However, if the offense takes place within one hundred feet of a church or one and a half miles of a school then the offense is charged as a class A misdemeanor, and all of downtown Chattanooga falls within a mile and a half of a school. 

On top of this is the possibility of additional drug charges faced by sex workers suffering from addiction.

Margaret, who requested her last name be omitted out of concern for her safety, is a former addict who now volunteers frequently at StreetWorks. 

“I like helping the girls because I can talk to them, I’ve already been there and done that…we try to get them help, they’ll say they want it then they don’t, y’know,” said Margaret, “They’ll back out right at the last minute…they’ll have everything ready to go, and they won’t go.”

She recalled a one such incident with a pregnant woman, “Mrs. Karen got her in the car one time and she jumped right back out when we got to the corner. I think she’s scared. I think she’s afraid of the help, afraid she’s going to miss something out there if she leaves the street,” said Margaret. 

Interventions by StreetWorks are not always successful, and they are rarely if ever immediate. Progress is often incremental.

“I can go ahead and tell you that this is not a one-time thing, these ladies who come off of the street and enter a program can sometimes spend four, five or six times before it finally clicks that they want a different life, but it’s not an immediate process,” said Brown. 

That click is what StreetWorks and their affiliates strive for. They’ll always be there for the women, but they know that true change must come from within.

The organisation always needs more female volunteers, and potential volunteers can reach them through their contact page on Clear Creek Church of Christ’s website

Not every woman who walks through StreetWorks door will break this cycle. Not every connection they form will lead to change, but every woman who seeks it will be loved and supported by Brown and her volunteers. 

Every woman they come across will know that no matter the dangers they face, for two days a week there are at least four blue cushions those dangers can not reach.

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Safety In The Shadows

Written by Silas Pankratz

In the darker corners of Chattanooga’s city streets, sex workers face daily threats of violence, exploitation, and isolation. In the midst of this fear and uncertainty, organizations like Streetworks are offering a glimmer of hope, providing sanctuary, support, and a path toward safety for those women who are trapped in the shadows.

“We always make sure that the location here is not disclosed to anyone,” said founder Karen Brown.

Streetworks supports the women in whatever capacity they can, whether it be physical, emotional, or even spiritual. Often, the team will take to the streets of Chattanooga and meet these women where they are, but Streetworks also owns a safe house meant to be a place of relief.

Brown describes the Streetworks house as a safe haven for sex workers who may have nowhere else to go. At the house, these women are provided with a place to eat a meal, take a shower, and receive new clothing. Most importantly, the house is a place to find rest and safety.

“This ministry is not for the faint-hearted. You will know right away whether you know it’s a good ministry for you to be involved in or not,” said Brown.

The nature of the job can be extremely dangerous and, as Brown says, it can be difficult to provide aid to those in need. Many sex workers experience harassment, humiliation, and even physical violence while at work, and Streetworks is determined to give relief.

This constant exposure to negative or traumatic situations can lead to intense fear and lasting psychological damage. Unfortunately, there is often little support available to help them deal with these emotional and physical issues. Streetworks seeks to be a place of support for these women, regardless of the risk involved. 

One of the biggest risks for sex workers, and a risk that Streetworks wishes to eliminate, is the threat of violence. This can come from clients, but also often from their own pimps. When it comes to sex work, pimps are portrayed in popular media as employers and protectors of sex workers, but in such a dangerous industry, these relationships can quickly become unsafe or violent.  Rachel Vandiver is a testament to the potential danger within the sex work industry, particularly between sex workers and pimps.

“The man who wanted me in the street, who I thought cared about me, he ran over me and broke my face in six places,” said Vandiver.  

Sex workers are often afraid to report these incidents to the police, fearing that they might be arrested or treated like criminals. In many places, this work is illegal, and workers are at risk of being arrested or prosecuted. This fear of legal trouble often stops them from seeking help or reporting violence, often allowing pimps to treat sex workers however they please. 

“Streetworks has never had any major security breaches,” said Brown.

Even with such heavy involvement in a dangerous industry, Brown boasts that Streetworks has been able to consistently keep sex workers safe with no major breaches in security. Streetworks has provided these women with the support and comfort that is often hard to come by for them, and in doing so they help them find their way out of a life in the shadows.

^{Street works is a volunteer based organization under the Clear Creek Church of Christ that helps to support homeless woman in the Chattanooga area. The Street Works volunteers do outreach trips where they drive around Chattanooga to hand out care bags that hold water, hygiene products, and food to women in need.} 

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