About EdenSpring

Why We Exist

Why EdenSpring

Each of us deserves the opportunity to fully discover and embrace our innate worth, including the most vulnerable among us. Those who have endured sex trafficking and commercial exploitation deserve an oasis of safety to seek rest, restoration, and a new beginning.

Our Name

The Meaning of the Name EdenSpring

Eden

The Book of Genesis describes the Garden of Eden as a paradise where people lived in right relationship with God, others, and creation (perfect Shalom) before brokenness and pain entered the world. EdenSpring isn't quite paradise, but it is a place of beauty and safety where residents will experience a glimpse of Eden.

Spring

This word is loaded with imagery. The season of spring brings new life, like the shoots of green grass that emerge after the barrenness of winter. In the desert, springs of water quench thirst and refresh overheated travelers. And the springs of water that bring eternal life are available for all who seek and knock.

Our Purpose

Vision & Mission

Vision

A community of survivors flourishing in a world free from sex trafficking.

Mission

Create an oasis of safety for healing and restoration of survivors of sex trafficking; drive societal change through education and advocacy.

Values

At EdenSpring we:

Love First

We love unconditionally, knowing that Love, the ultimate force for good in this world, heals and restores. Understanding our innate worth frees us to give and receive love and inspires us to take care of ourselves so we can more fully care for each other.

Offer Grace

We cultivate a culture where it is safe to learn, make mistakes, and grow into who we were created to be. We walk in authenticity and honor the dignity and agency of others, lifting one another up with truth as we hold each other accountable with grace.

Value Excellence

We give our best to ourselves and those in our community. Through accountability and continuous improvement, we operate with high standards by demonstrating faithful stewardship, offering high-quality housing and care, and removing potential obstacles to healing.

Exercise Integrity

We act in alignment with our mission and values. Prioritizing honesty, transparency, and accountability, we seek to build a foundation of trust with our residents, staff, board, partners, supporters, and the broader community.

Walk Together

We journey together in the strength of community which provides fertile ground for continuous support as we grow. By sharing our unique perspectives and experiences, we expand our capacity for empathy and accompany each other on the road to joy.

Where We Are

Nestled in the Mountains of West Virginia

EdenSpring is a place where natural beauty abounds, life is abundant, and each season brings new delights.

It is a good place to walk the road to joy.

A Note From Our Founder

More than 20 years ago, the inspiring work of International Justice Mission opened my eyes to the prevalence of modern slavery in countries around the world. Soon after, a parishioner from my church left his job in the intelligence community to launch what would eventually become The Network. I became an inaugural board member of this organization, which engages in the strategic disruption of trafficking activities in the U.S. This role taught me the reality of trafficking today — it is everywhere, including your own backyard.

IJM and The Network freed many people. But as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, I knew that physical freedom alone couldn't break the mental and emotional shackles forged through years of exploitation. That journey to restoration takes years.

In my thirties, I walked that difficult road to restoration with the love and support of my family and church and the professional care of incredible counselors. It was unspeakably hard to face the past, but God's love carried me through every painful step.

My healing continues — it will be a lifelong journey — but now I live with joy. And my own story of restoration inspired me to dream of creating a sanctuary, an oasis of safety and serenity, where other women could also shed the darkness and walk the road to joy.

That dream led me to found EdenSpring in 2023. Nestled in the foothills of West Virginia, EdenSpring will offer restorative care for survivors of sex trafficking in a place of natural beauty. I've lived in cities and suburbs for most of my life, so rural settings are relatively new to me. I have discovered a peace that resides here, the kind that clears the mind and lifts weight from the shoulders. It is a good place to walk the road to joy.

If you have endured sex trafficking, I invite you to learn more about EdenSpring and consider whether our residential home and community might be a good fit for you. Whether you choose EdenSpring or another program, know that I celebrate your bravery. It takes courage to confront the past and begin the healing journey. You are a warrior — courageous, priceless, and beautiful.

If you are interested in becoming an ally of EdenSpring, please accept my gratitude. I invite you to spend time learning about our restorative care program and our future plans to establish transitional housing for our brave community of survivors. I encourage you to spend time on our resources page learning more about trafficking and how you can join the fight to eradicate it. And I urge you to consider how your time, talent and treasure can be used to bring light to dark places.

With Joy and Hope,

Christine Wilson

Leadership

Board of Directors

Christine Wilson

President and Founder

Christine Wilson is a lawyer and former Commissioner at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. She loves policy debates, crocheting, and that first cup of coffee in the morning. Her heart is at rest when caring for her family and the beloved mix of animals that share their West Virginia homestead. Christine has dreamed of creating EdenSpring for 20 years. She is thrilled to see the dream become a reality – to see lives restored and a community equipped to prevent and end human trafficking once and for all.

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Christine Wilson is a lawyer and former Commissioner at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. She loves policy debates, crocheting, and that first cup of coffee in the morning. Her heart is at rest when caring for her family and the beloved mix of animals that share their West Virginia homestead.

Christine has dreamed of creating EdenSpring for 20 years. She is thrilled to see the dream become a reality – to see lives restored and a community equipped to prevent and end human trafficking once and for all.

Dan Caprio

Founding Board Member

Dan Caprio is a Senior Policy Advisor at DLA Piper where he advises transatlantic clients on Geo-political risk, consumer protection, privacy and cybersecurity. He serves on the EdenSpring board because the mission of EdenSpring - to provide services and hope to survivors of sex trafficking - is desperately needed. Dan is excited to see lives impacted for good and contribute to societal change to eliminate sex trafficking for good.

Read moreRead less

Dan Caprio is a Senior Policy Advisor at DLA Piper where he advises transatlantic clients on Geo-political risk, consumer protection, privacy and cybersecurity.

He serves on the EdenSpring board because the mission of EdenSpring - to provide services and hope to survivors of sex trafficking - is desperately needed. Dan is excited to see lives impacted for good and contribute to societal change to eliminate sex trafficking for good.

Beth Jones

Founding Board Member and Treasurer

Beth Jones is a seasoned financial officer and accountant with experience in governmental, public, and nonprofit sectors. She enjoys providing EdenSpring with financial oversight and helping build a solid organizational structure. Beth values EdenSpring's mission to provide a space of healing and restoration for those who have endured trafficking. She looks forward to seeing EdenSpring follow where God leads, walking alongside survivors in their journey of healing and contributing to anti-trafficking advocacy and awareness in her home state of West Virginia.

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Beth Jones is a seasoned financial officer and accountant with experience in governmental, public, and nonprofit sectors. She enjoys providing EdenSpring with financial oversight and helping build a solid organizational structure.

Beth values EdenSpring's mission to provide a space of healing and restoration for those who have endured trafficking. She looks forward to seeing EdenSpring follow where God leads, walking alongside survivors in their journey of healing and contributing to anti-trafficking advocacy and awareness in her home state of West Virginia.

Mary Lehner

Founding Board Member and Fundraising Chair

Mary Lehner is a partner at the international law firm Freshfields US LLP in Washington, DC where she practices antitrust law. Living in Washington in a time of political difference, Mary considers it an honor and a joy to invest in a mission that is unambiguously a thing of goodness. She along with all of Team EdenSpring is thrilled to offer a beautiful space of sanctuary where the women of EdenSpring may begin building the life they have dreamt of living.

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Mary Lehner is a partner at the international law firm Freshfields US LLP in Washington, DC where she practices antitrust law.

Living in Washington in a time of political difference, Mary considers it an honor and a joy to invest in a mission that is unambiguously a thing of goodness. She along with all of Team EdenSpring is thrilled to offer a beautiful space of sanctuary where the women of EdenSpring may begin building the life they have dreamt of living.

Dawnielle Miller

CEO and Board Secretary

Dawnielle Miller, experienced in nonprofit start up and executive leadership, has spent her career building organizations, programs and teams designed to activate the resilience and potential of individuals and communities through relational presence and collective good. Dawnielle is honored to be an inaugural board member of EdenSpring and selected as its first staff leader. She looks forward to witnessing a community of survivors flourishing together as a result of having the space to rest, restore, and rediscover the treasure that was within all along.

Read moreRead less

Dawnielle Miller, experienced in nonprofit start up and executive leadership, has spent her career building organizations, programs and teams designed to activate the resilience and potential of individuals and communities through relational presence and collective good.

Dawnielle is honored to be an inaugural board member of EdenSpring and selected as its first staff leader. She looks forward to witnessing a community of survivors flourishing together as a result of having the space to rest, restore, and rediscover the treasure that was within all along.

At EdenSpring, we recognize that the most effective restorative care organizations are survivor- and trauma-informed. We are committed to learning from survivors and trauma-informed therapists and plan to add this expertise to our board.