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Callista's Story



My story

·I’m a girl who born as a result of prostitution. I opened my eyes finding myself moving from family to family, house to house, hand to hand. By the time I turned 20 years-old I had lived with 20 different families. They were not relatives, each one of those families have their own routine of life, system, habits, traditions, and culture and you have to fit in, sleeping time, eating time, talking time, watching time, if they are conservative you have to be conservative too, and if they are open minded you have to be like them too. It means you have to reformat yourself before putting your first step into each house. At the beginning this was very difficult, but with time it didn’t really matter to me as much as finding good treatment. Unfortunately, most of them they share the same rules. Nothing for free. you should be a babysitter, a housekeeper, a cook. Some families hit me or kicked me out because I didn’t do all what they want from me. Others I ran away from to save myself from being raped, abused, etc... I slept without food a lot and I spent many nights on the roofs of neighbors in the winter and it was very cold. Staying without a parent, without food, without clothes, without money was Ok for me, but the only thing that I can not live without is a HOME. I lived also in the orphan. In my short life I have tasted many horrible experiences, some of them you cannot even imagine, but the taste of not having a place where you can be protected from wolves…that has a different taste. All the words cannot express that feeling. When I was kid I had a lot of dreams, but with time the only dream I had was finding a place where I could feel safe, a place where I can be belong to somebody. When people know that you don’t have someone to protect you, you are like a piece of cake to wolves. All my life I’ve been like a prospector, but instead of looking for treasure, I’m looking for a family. Sadly most of the families I lived with were never satisfied and I never felt that they love me. They took advantage of me, and boasted about the good that they are doing. But God compensated me with good people around me. Moms who really love me and want the best for me without cost.

I was distrustful of people, however thanks to these great women who show me that good people are still in life. All we know that the two people who want the best for you, are your Mom and your Dad, but for me I didn’t have those. Now I have many but beauty for ashes want us to be the best.

Thank you for achieving my dream, thank you for making me feeling safe. Thank you for letting me know the real meaning of the family.


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BFA's Story

Beauty For Ashes (BFA) was established as a 501-c3 non-profit in 2014 by Lauren Byler (see her story below). Based on her personal experiences and exposure to the travesties of human trafficking and e

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