(flourishing music) - Hello, I'm Portia Young.

Next on "10thirtysix" we'll have our own version of "All Creatures Great and Small" as we introduce you to a country veterinarian here in Wisconsin.

And meet Anne Haines and hear how she's helping survivors of human trafficking, an ongoing problem in Milwaukee.

(gentle upbeat music) January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

It's a persistent problem worldwide, including here in Milwaukee.

Many social service agencies and safe havens in Milwaukee provide resources, shelter and overall help to those who have become victims of human trafficking.

And that could be men, women, and children.

Human trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing or soliciting of a person for the purposes of a commercial sex act, in which the commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud or coercion.

The FBI in Milwaukee says some of the youngest female victims have been 11 years old.

Exploit No More in Milwaukee that offers services to survivors says it's estimated that human trafficking generates many billions of dollars of profit per year, second to only drug trafficking.

In reality, how a person falls victim to human trafficking can vary.

It can start with a boyfriend or someone you meet at the mall.

It's a complicated problem.

We want to share what's going on here in Milwaukee to help survivors of trafficking in order to call more attention to the problem.

Producer Maryann Lazarski spoke with the founder of the newest safe haven in the city, the St. Bakhita Catholic Worker House at 2nd and Burleigh.

- [All] Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

- [Anne] I pray for our women that they can find in their heart what Christ put there and that they are able to have the desire and the strength and the courage and the fortitude and the, and the support that they need to get to be able to live, that they live that, what was put in their heart, and also to discover their inherent dignity and walk in it.

Give thanks to Him.

Bless His name.

- [All] Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

- [Anne] My name is Anne Haines, and I am the executive director of St. Bakhita Catholic Worker House.

St. Bakhita House is a Catholic worker house rooted in the life witness of two women, St. Bakhita, who is the patron saint of human trafficking and slavery, and Dorothy Day, who founded the Catholic Worker Movement.

The Catholic Worker Movement has a tradition of providing hospitality for women or children or all sorts of people, really, any type of person, depending on what city you're in, and trying to live the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount.

So that means feeding the hungry, providing shelter for the homeless, providing clothing for those without.

But here in Milwaukee we are striving to answer the call to provide housing for women who are survivors of sexual exploitation.

Catholic workers have the tradition of trying to meet the needs that are before them.

Right now we're up to five women and potentially moving up to six soon, and we hope to expand someday up to 12 women.

We are open to women from age 18 up, so adult women.

And the women are able to stay for up to two years.

But right now we're in the 30 to 50 range.

Through the Franciscan Peacemakers Program.

The first step is that they need to engage in a program for sobriety, and then they are given the choice to live here or not.

The partnership between the Franciscan Peacemakers and St. Bakhita House is, it works out really well because we have the housing, the hospitality, the community.

The Catholic workers live on the third floor, are able to live in solidarity and walk with the women every day.

So we are able to provide a loving family atmosphere for the women who live here.

And the Franciscan Peacemakers, through their Clare Community Program, are able to connect the women with the services that they need, whether it's related to trauma and healing, or connect them to their healthcare needs or any type of meetings for addiction, transportation.

They also, through their wonderful social enterprise, are able to provide some employment for the women once they get to a point where they're able to start to make their way out into the world.

I actually live here.

I live on the third floor, and survivors live on the second floor.

So this is what our residence rooms look like.

Some of them are bigger.

I think this is probably the smallest one, but it's beautifully decorated by room sponsors from St. Dominic's, and it's waiting for our next resident and our next community member.

So here we have a dining hall that accommodates up to 25 people.

It's where we eat our meals, and we also can hold events in there.

If I didn't live here, it would be hard to call it a Catholic worker in my view because we're called to live in community with people.

It has been remarkably positive, the feedback that the women have given us.

They have been so kind and grateful, which isn't something that I expected or think is necessary.

But they have pitched in and done their chores.

We all have chores.

We have a chore chart and we follow that.

And they are, I think, I think they can feel that there's something different here, as far as being a community.

I think they feel that strong sense of support and I think it's pretty wonderful that we have not lost any of the women.

'Cause that's a pretty common thing to have people drop out of something like this and fairly quickly.

And we haven't lost any of the five women.

I absolutely love them like family already.

(laughs) It just has gone extremely well.

I mean, the interaction is much like many of us.

You wake up in the morning and you're eating a muffin with somebody.

I like to bake a lot for them.

I'm a mother of six children, so I'm kind of...

I like that mama role.

(laughs) I really believe that relationship building is a slow process, and it's a matter of building trust.

So I have been trying to really train myself to not be overly overbearing with regards to things like that.

I really think it's important that the women open up on their own accord.

I don't push women ever, but I like to just be there.

I mean, you offer, you offer nuggets of advice here and there.

There's things I learn from them too.

- [Interviewer] What do you learn from them?

- Incredible perspectives on courage and perseverance through troubles.

It's amazing the positive outlook some of the women adopt to continue to get through their struggles and make it from one step to the next.

It's just, and I take notes from that for myself 'cause we all have struggles.

Certainly, I'm not comparing my struggles to theirs, but it's amazing to watch them.

They are really remarkable women.

What I really am attracted to is Dorothy's view of, that's rooted in Christian personalism that sees Christ in every person, their innate dignity, and loves them with the no matter whatness, just loves everyone because they're created in the image of God.

And to me, the idea of living in solidarity with the people that you're walking with makes sense.

And looking at what Jesus said in the Gospel and taking it literally because He meant it, (laughs) what He said, to me is really something that is a beautiful way to follow Christ's call.

And I found, I think more than any other witness in the 20th century, I think Dorothy Day got Jesus.

(laughs) - [Interviewer] What would happen to these women if the Bakhita House didn't exist?

- I can't say that I've ever entertained the idea of what would happen to the women if these housing opportunities didn't exist.

That thought makes me feel ill. (laughs) I just, I don't know.

- [Interviewer] What is the answer to ending human trafficking?

- I think the answer to ending human trafficking is a very complex one.

I think there's a lot of different facets to that and I'm certainly not an expert on that.

But I mean, I think it starts in the home, when we're in the family, in the home, when people are young, being taught about it, that the children are taught to be aware, that men especially are taught the dignity of women and people are loved well.

I think it's important that people aren't statistics or data and sometimes things will go well and sometimes they won't.

But overall, if we can touch people and help them regain who they are and their dignity, I think that's a success, whether it's a one or a 50 or 100.

♪ Hallelujah ♪ - Human trafficking, again, is a worldwide crisis.

It's happening to some of the women and children refugees who are fleeing the war in Ukraine.

A pastor working on the border of Ukraine and Moldova, to keep the refugees safe, explains what's going on.

- Part of the reason why we actually jumped into this, of helping Ukrainian refugees, it was our 20 years of track record of fighting human trafficking.

My wife coming from Ukraine and growing as an orphan, and being passionate to... Actually, that's where our passion for orphans and fighting human trafficking has actually come from.

It's from the story of my wife growing as an orphan and the heart that she has for the orphans, to give them a chance to avoid trafficking and the trap of trafficking and take a path of a different life, a life where there is meaning and purpose for them.

It's been that experience that we actually had and we were able to bring to the table, especially in the light of Ukrainian refugees.

And we saw that majority of the women, of the people that running from the borders, through the borders are women and kids.

I looked, we looked into each other's eyes, and I said, "Marina, I mean, where these women are going?

Where are they going?

Who's gonna take care of them?"

She becomes such an easy target for a pimp.

And in Europe we thought that we're almost done with trafficking.

That would...

I think that's a very big statement to make.

But the human trafficking has actually increased because of women running vulnerable.

Moms, kids have nothing.

The flow of women, imagine four and a half million of women, this has been probably the largest refugee crisis since Second World War for the European continent.

So what that meant is single men would offer their studios for the women to be able to live there.

So this woman who has no money, has a child, or she has no kid, but she's a single lady, what would she do?

So case after case that popped up here, there, there, there, of women that are being actually forced into sex trade.

It's sad to say, but countries that have legalized prostitution, a lot of those windows, they're packed with Eastern European women, girls.

They have, (sighs) they have been actually lured into it and pushed into it, not knowing the language, not understanding, reading what contract they sign, and then they've been actually trapped into the situations they've never dreamed of.

I walk those streets with my wife, talk to those women, and they said, "How can I get out of this?

I don't know."

So pushing back, fighting back legally on their behalf, trying to get them to come back.

Also, come back where?

To a job, to a shelter.

That's what actually motivated us to put together transition homes, homes, safe homes for women, seven homes at the moment where we are able to, for a season to be able to help them restore emotionally, psychologically, physically, get a trade, I mean to a trading school and getting a job, a safe place where they're welcomed and their identity and their story is not disclosed.

(soft thoughtful music) I think what matters to me the most is how can we respond during these times?

How can we step up for the weak and the broken and the oppressed and care for those who need our help?

- "10thirtysix" will continue to provide information about human trafficking in the coming months.

If you know someone who may be a victim of trafficking, please call the national hotline.

1-888-373-7888.

We have a follow up for you on our award-winning documentary, "America's Dairyland at the Crossroads."

Milwaukee "Journal Sentinel" business reporter Rick Barrett, who worked on the documentary with us, reported that Wisconsin dairy farm losses hit a three year high even as milk prices rose.

One reason is there's been strong demand for dairy cows and for beef, which has raised cattle prices.

That has made it more attractive for farmers to sell off their herd.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, there was 6,116 licensed dairy herds left in the state as of January 1st.

That's down 417 from a year earlier.

The last time Wisconsin lost more than 400 herds in 12 months was in 2019 when around 800 dairy farms shut down.

Cows, pigs, goats, and other large animals need constant care.

Those of you who are fans of the PBS show, "All Creatures Great and Small" will appreciate our next story about a young woman who decided to become a country vet.

- [Lindley] I've always loved agriculture, my dad being a farmer.

I was in FFA, I was in 4H.

I grew up here.

I grew up with a lot of, a lot of my classmates from high school are farmers, and I am fortunate enough to work in the area I grew up in.

And I just really wanna do right by them.

And that was always my path for this.

I was gonna stay around here and help the farmers here.

(goats bleating) Hey goats, what are we up to today?

Huh?

There we go.

Okay, now we gotta go.

All right, well, farmer was a little bit concerned about this guy.

Little bit of a cough.

Just like you guys would, we look to see if they got snotty noses.

That looks good.

Nothing around the eyes.

Ears are pretty healthy, not drooping more.

Okay, now we wanna make sure gums are a good color.

That looks very healthy.

You're doing a very good job, buddy.

See if we can induce a cough or anything, but that seems good.

We gotta take a look at the inside and we have to do that with a stethoscope.

So I'll listen to the lungs, make sure they're breathing easy.

And then we can listen to the guts to make sure that they're moving.

You want the guts moving somewhat so they'll make that when you're hungry sort of sound.

But if that's really going a lot, then they might be getting a sign of diarrhea.

But if nothing's moving at all, then we get a little worried that maybe they're constipated or not eating like they should.

Hi.

They can lose weight real fast if they get sick, so I'd rather the farmers call me out early than late.

Are you gonna be okay, Ernie?

I think you will be.

Go join your friends.

You have to be creative.

You're gonna flip from different species.

You're not gonna have even a computer resource or books at your disposal, and you're gonna have to use your intuition about, well, I've treated this before.

What's it like?

I treat it as problem solving.

I want my farmers to be a part of a team.

I grew up on a farm.

I've done all the same things they have.

I want us to get together at the end because really at the end of the day, what matters is these guys and their health.

(gentle music) Okay, guys.

Other way, Rainbow.

So this is Rainbow.

Rainbow's a very special cow that I met when she was only one day old.

She is now pregnant.

I confirmed her pregnant a month ago, and today she's gonna get a vaccine to keep her and her baby safe so they can be born in the spring.

It's gonna be just a tiny poke.

Oh, there you go.

Good job, girl.

Way to be.

That'll keep her healthy from respiratory disease and anything that may cause that baby some harm.

I have to know how to metastasize these guys.

I have to know how to do surgery.

I have to know their heart, their respiratory, GI.

I have to know vaccines for them, and not just them, but seven other species, and that's just so cool when I sit and think about it, and I just love the challenge.

And these guys get bigger than us very quickly.

Really, it's just understanding the animals, working with them at their pace.

It's really knowing that these are big animals.

They can hurt you, but they don't have to if you work around well with them and with your farmer.

I do my job my way.

I wear bright pink coveralls, and my farmers laughed at first, but they are like, you be you.

I have bright red dye colored hair.

I am not tall.

But I just always tell women, go in and be you.

Be your authentic you.

Farmers appreciate someone who's authentic.

By no means you have to look a certain way or be a certain person to do this job.

If you care about their animals, they will not care down the road that you are a female veterinarian.

Good job, buddy.

I think you're gonna be okay.

Huh?

- Milwaukee PBS has begun a story sharing partnership with CBS 58 and their CBS Sunday morning program.

Here's a story about a camp in Elkhorn, Wisconsin that you might not have heard about, but it sure has quite a history.

- [Stephanie] In it's almost 100 years, Camp Wandawega has been a getaway for mobsters, bootleggers, Johns, Catholic priests, and families looking for summer fun.

- [David] When we were little kids, I think we used to fantasize about, oh, when we grow up, maybe we could all buy a little cottage and build little cottages up on the hillside and we could all stay together forever.

- [Stephanie] But for David Hernandez... - It never occurred to me as a little kid that someday we'd be able to buy the whole place.

- [Stephanie] It's always been a home away from home.

- [David] I thought it was a little black bear crawling up.

- [Stephanie] Hernandez frequented the camp in the late sixties when it was a refuge for Latvian Catholic priests fleeing the Soviet invasion, eventually turning into a summer retreat for Latvian families.

- Just to be able to get out of the city and have a place like this, it was just really amazing for a little city kid from Chicago.

- [Stephanie] Under the church's ownership for over 40 years, it flew under the radar.

- When you're here, you feel like you're way up in the north woods.

- [Stephanie] Just one of the reasons Hernandez and his wife Tereasa Surratt call Wandawega the lake no one has ever heard of.

- You know what's crazy is the locals don't know we're here.

We're a hundred years old.

- [David] The fact that it's this tiny little lake that no one ever heard of and it's on the edge of a dead end road, on the edge of the woods.

- [Stephanie] Hernandez once told the priest who ran the camp he'd be first in line to restore it.

- [David] One day we got the phone call, and he said, "Okay, if you're serious, now is the time."

- It's probably the biggest reasons that we bought Camp Wandawega, so that we could save it.

It was for sure gonna be pushed over and turned into a gravel yard or a trailer park or something.

- [Stephanie] And they did save the camp, keeping its unique features.

- The Bunkhouse, it's a modern building in a hundred-year-old shell.

It was built for the purposes of being used as a house of ill fame, "a body house of ill fame," as the newspaper said.

The madam Annie Peck ran this and used the bedrooms for the women that worked here.

- [Stephanie] Orphan Annie Peck making headline news in the forties for her brothel and illegal sales of mob liquor.

- When I tell people about the history, that there's everything here from criminals on the run, contempt of court, multiple prohibition padlocks, multiple federal raids, a murder, a kidnapping, suicide, so many things that happened here over the years that people look at me and think I'm crazy.

Our imaginations ran wild when we were little kids.

We always thought that this place with prohibition past probably had some amazing stories, but the stories that we made up were nothing compared to the reality that we learned over time.

- [Stephanie] From ladies of the night, to a grizzly murder/suicide crossing state lines.

A jilted suitor slays woman, kills self.

The story of Johnny Sweetheart, a Chicago man who killed his lover in the city, kidnapped a friend and took his own life in Wandawega while on the lamb in 1942.

And all of Wandawega's history fueling the couple's passion for the camp.

- It's been a labor of love, emphasis on labor.

- [Stephanie] They've owned the 25-acre property since 2004.

- [Tereasa] For the past 18 years, we've been spending every free dollar from our day jobs and minute that we have available here fixing it up, saving it.

- [Stephanie] Rehabbing.

- [David] Some of the white wood came from old Wisconsin dairy barns.

- [Stephanie] And reviving its buildings.

- All the windows came from a home that was being demolished in Illinois.

- [Stephanie] While adding their own.

- [David] All the odds and ends are just flea market and thrift store finds.

- [Stephanie] Like this tree house dedicated to Surratt's late father Tom, who christened the camp with a swing tied to its branch.

- [David] And when he passed away, the tree died also.

And so in spite of the fact that the limbs were starting to fall and the tree was getting ugly, Tereasa wouldn't let us cut it down.

- [Stephanie] And this cottage, once belonging to Surratt's grandmother, traveled 350 miles from central Illinois to Wandawega.

- [Tereasa] It was so meaningful to be able to save a piece of my childhood and bring it back here and then bring it back to its glory days.

- [Stephanie] Finding beauty and purpose in long abandoned buildings has kept them on this journey of preservation.

- [Tereasa] One of our biggest passions that David and I have, and one of the reasons we have Camp Wandawega is because we love saving old buildings.

We love moving old buildings, we love restoring old buildings.

- [Stephanie] And while they continue to grow the camp, they're keeping its traditions alive.

- [David] We did a handshake deal with him.

We said, "As long as the will of the people wants to continue to have mass here, we'll continue to sponsor it and support it."

- [Stephanie] Including mass in the grass.

- The Latvian volunteers started making church pews and added the altar as well.

And now it's been going on since the 1960s.

So it's a tradition going back over 50 years.

- [Stephanie] On any given Sunday between Memorial Day and Labor Day, up to 200 people might be outside enjoying mass on site.

- [David] We do joke sometimes on this side of the chapel where I'm sitting now, we'll have folks drinking Bloody Mary's, and on that side we'll have folks saying hail Mary's.

- [Stephanie] Camp Wandawega is on the National Register of Historic Places, and visitors can rent a stay in the couple's one of a kind American getaway, learn about its extensive history and enjoy its gorgeous views.

- [David] There's so much amazing history, so much amazing nature here that I think we sometimes take for granted.

We're trying to get more and more people excited about embracing the cottage vernacular, embracing the simple architecture, preserving the things that can still be preserved, rather than just pushing things over or completely gutting things.

So I think that's part of the story that we try to tell here too, is get people to really appreciate the historical assets and the natural assets of the place.

- That'll do it for this edition of "10thirtysix."

Remember, you can always check us out on social media and on our YouTube channel.

We'll see you next time.

(gentle upbeat music)