The Rainbow Connection

The

Remember, every time you witness a rainbow, know that God will keep His promises to you despite your hardships, trials or other lifealtering circumstances.

For nearly 20 years, the House of Giving has been blessed to provide hope and healing to communities across the globe. Thanks to your contributions and support, our latest mission to provide Dream Rooms, a home to heal, rebuild and transform the lives of human and sex trafficking victims, has been accomplished with extraordinary success. Together we achieved what at first seemed impossible, yet, through your generous gifts, we not only built one room, we created nine rooms for young men.

Human trafficking was a developing story in the news and seemed like an important cause where we could give our services to those who desperately needed our help. Annie Ellison, the Director of House of Giving, became aware of a local ministry named Dream Center. Dedicated to rescuing human and sex trafficking and providing them with a safe place to stay, recover and turn their lives around. The Dream Center facility is an old hotel that required construction and remodeling of the old, worn rooms to house these young adults safely.

These victims, forced into this horrible lifestyle, are traumatized and have a deep sense of “fight or flight” embedded in them. A safe, comfortable, private space helps calm them and gives them a sense of security, realizing they don’t have to run. Counseling, schooling, medical treatment and mentors help them by providing hope as they begin a new life in physical, emotional and spiritual wellness.

Chase Michael Ellison

There was an overwhelming need at the Dream Center for more rooms to be constructed and remodeled for the many new victims and soon-to-be human and sex trafficking survivors. In late July 2020, the House of Giving began to raise the necessary funds to design and build new rooms. With our 2020 end-of-theyear House of Giving campaign, we received generous donations from TriVita members, employees, family and friends. At this point in the campaign, the facility only had programs available to female survivors and our goal was to complete one Dream Room. With the help of TriVita’s dollar-for-dollar match, we were close to accomplishing our fundraising goal.

On January 23, 2021, the world changed forever for Marcus and Annie and the Ellison family.

Early that day, Annie and Marcus were hiking on a local mountain and saw the most vibrant, colorful, majestic rainbow they had ever seen. The brilliance of this rainbow visibly moved everybody on the mountain. It was a sign from God in all His glory. They just weren’t sure yet what it meant.

On their way home, they stopped at a grocery store. Marcus got a phone call. The news was tragic. Their 18-year-old son Chase Michael Ellison was found dead from accidental fentanyl poisoning. Life would never be the same.

The shock and grief were overwhelming. Family, friends, TriVita employees and members all said and did what they could. It was tough. The Ellison family needed time to grieve and pray. Shortly after, Marcus and Annie met with friends sharing their condolences and discussing how they could turn this tragedy into something good. Most were open to help monetarily or with whatever resources they had. The desire to build the Dream Rooms seemed even more urgent now. Jeff Hillis, a lifelong friend whose company builds luxury homes, offered to do the construction and remodeling work at his cost. Jeff also asked many of his vendors to donate materials for the rooms, and they did. But there was one significant change to come. The Dream Center contacted Annie and said they were starting a new Dream Room project and would like us to change the room design for male sextrafficked victims. They also asked if we could do more than one room because of the influx of newly rescued victims. It was then that Marcus and Annie, along with the help of Jeff, were determined to build not one, but nine rooms. This news was another sign that inspired the Ellison family to make this happen in the loving memory of Chase.

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Annie Ellison, Jeff Hillis and Marcus Ellison

During the final walk-through for the rooms, Marcus and Annie met Irene Orr, the Program Manager for the Young Men’s portion of this project for The Phoenix Dream Center. There were two young men with Irene who are currently in the program. The young men were excited to share how they had accepted Jesus and how the Lord had saved them. One of them had been addicted to drugs, had overdosed more than once, and was tired of that life. The Lord and the Dream Center have saved him. The young man said, “I gave up Narcan (an overdose nasal spray) for Jesus.” Irene expressed how excited they all are to have this project almost completed. They have prayed about these rooms for a long time, knowing in God’s time, they will be complete. The boys and Irene prayed over the rooms. Irene shared that she looked up when they finished praying over the rooms and saw two incredible double rainbows.

“I just got goosebumps! I have prayed over these rooms since March, when called to lead the program. Thank you, Jesus, for miracles,

signs, and wonders!” Irene

Another sign. Marcus and Annie are confident that the rainbows are a message from God that He is with them on this project, that there is an afterlife and that Chase is with Jesus.

“The Lord is using us to rebuild and transform these rooms and to help in the healing and recovery of these young men, while at the

same time He is rebuilding and transforming us.” Annie We would love to give a huge heartfelt THANK YOU to all our donors, employees and TriVita members for your help in building the Dream Rooms. We had the vision to start with one room, but with overwhelming support, we accomplished what once seemed impossible: nine Dream Rooms!

With our heartfelt gratitude,

Marcus & Annie