Ernestine's Daughter responds to those experiencing gender-based violence, sexual exploitation and trafficking.

One brief story.

“I’ll never forget the first time we had pregnant women from the street come to us seeking prenatal information. One of them, whom we’ll call Sarah, was brought in by her sister. Sarah was hungry, unbathed, and visibly exhausted from life on the street. Sarah and her sister both needed help, but Sarah wasn’t ready. She didn’t want to talk. She just wanted to be left alone.

We gave her some space. I offered her a snack and some juice, and she took it—quickly. I sat with her in silence, making silly faces for about ten minutes. Sarah, six months pregnant, had a history of mental illness and was already a mother to nine children being cared for by her family. In that moment, she reminded me why I do this work.

What kind of world allows someone in her condition to be repeatedly exploited for sex and money?

Sarah wasn’t in a state to be left alone, so I helped her bathe. We shared a meal—chicken and mashed potatoes—and waited until her sister returned. When she did, Sarah didn’t go back to the street—she asked her sister to go home. I like to believe that the care and dignity we showed stirred something—maybe a sense of homesickness, or a desire to protect her unborn child, but regardless, it kept her and her unborn child off the street for at least one day.”

Our Story

Ernestine's Daughter was founded by Brenda Myers-Powell, Chief Executive Officer, and Brenda Stewart, Executive Director, and lead outreach provider, whose personal journeys fuel its mission. The organization was born out of the legacy of the Dreamcatcher Foundation, which was co-founded in 2008 by Brenda Myers-Powell, bringing decades of lived experience to her advocacy work for survivors of sexual exploitation, abuse and trafficking, gender-based violence, people struggling with addiction and homelessness, and members of the transgender community.

Ernestine’s Daughters’ mission is to promote trauma-informed, harm-reduction, and holistic care. The organization seeks to disrupt the cycle of abuse and exploitation by providing for individuals’ basic and immediate needs: food, clothing, hygiene, substance abuse treatment, and importantly, trust, healing, human connection and access to critical services. Through survivor-led outreach, Ernestine’s Daughter aims to change the narrative relating to the sex trade, centered not on judgment, but on emotional and spiritual healing, empowerment, and equity. These practices embody community care, healing justice, and compassion, rather than criminalization. Ernestine’s Daughter envisions a society where survivors of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation are met with empathy, resources, and justice, not stigma.

Programming and Services

Ernestine’s Daughter began providing services in 2023 in the Garfield East and Garfield West communities, using an outreach van and drop-in center (now located at 5044 West Madison, Chicago, IL,) and offering a 24-hour hotline that serves survivors throughout Chicago and its suburbs. The drop-in center is open Tuesday through Saturday. Ernestine’s Daughter provides hot food, showers, clothing, conversation, yoga, meditation, a place to nap, games, twice-monthly therapeutic massage, and good old-fashioned girl talk. Ernestine’s Daughter staff conduct client-centered assessments to learn about each person's needs, make referrals for substance use treatment, medical care, domestic violence shelters, counseling services, self-help groups, and 12-step support groups and provide resources to overcome obstacles to get to those services, e.g., bus cards and accompaniment.

Since 2023, Ernestine’s Daughter has partnered with RUSH University System for Health and an opioid specialist to escort clients to receive Suboxone and other drug treatments. Many of the women served feel overwhelmed or intimidated by the healthcare system, but having someone walk beside them—literally and emotionally—makes all the difference.

Ernestine’s Daughter helps survivors with securing employment, through job referrals, and preparing them for interviews. They held a Mother’s Day clothing giveaway, partnering with a top design company to provide new clothing for its clients, offered a stylist to design outfits for job interviews and provided clients with professional headshots for resumes.

Advocacy and Community Engagement

Ernestine’s Daughters’ leadership has become a leading voice on behalf of those facing sexual exploitation, sex trafficking and gender-based violence, sought out by federal, state and local policymakers, media and law enforcement officials. Advocacy has included:

CEO and founder, Brenda Myers-Powell, serving on the Mayor’s Gender Based Violence Taskforce, the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking and the Illinois Joint Human Trafficking Working Group.
Working with Congressman Davis and state and local elected officials to lead an awareness campaign to reduce the number of missing and murdered girls and women of color in Chicago and to urge the US Department of Justice to create a federal task force to address unsolved cases.
Convening focus groups at the drop-in center for Illinois Survivor Task Force.
Collaborating closely with the police departments in the 10th and 15th districts of Chicago to address the community’s safety needs and to provide responsive outreach to new potential clients.
Engaging in the development of two documentaries that share real life stories and events relating to human trafficking and its effects on marginalized communities including The Right Track and Dreamcatcher.

Community Impact

Ernestine’s Daughter addresses critical unmet needs voiced by many in the community. Aside from one faith-based organization that focuses on prayer, Ernestine’s Daughter is the only street outreach organization that services the Garfield East and Garfield West communities. Because of this, Ernestine’s Daughter is the go-to program for the local police who call Ernestine’s Daughter to respond to situations and provide support during street interventions. Ernestine’s Daughter reaches people where they are, with outreach workers who have experienced what they have, who live in their communities, and who understand survivors’ culture and experiences. Ernestine’s Daughter staff build trust with individuals over time, extend kindness and nonjudgment interactions over many days, and gradually build relationships. Because of Ernestine Daughter’s survivor-led model, clients are more willing to engage in the clinical treatment and care to which they are referred, strengthening the links between community-based engagement and clinical care.

Demand is high! In 2025, ED reached 2,343 women and girls. The drop-in center provided comprehensive care to 720 individuals, while street outreach reached 1,623 people with harm-reduction supplies, hygiene kits, and invitations to access ongoing services and most are under the age of 30. This demand is urgent in communities with limited support, where trafficking and gender-based violence intersect with housing instability, addiction, unmet health needs, economic insecurity, and the criminalization of survivors.

Missing and Murdered Girls and Women

The statistics tell it all! Black and Brown women and girls disappear and are murdered at heavily disproportionate rates compared to their white peers. Nationally, Black women make up roughly 15% of the U.S. female population but account for up to 40% of missing women. This is wrong and we must find a solution!

The large number of missing and murdered women and girls of color is personal for Ernestine’s Daughter leaders who get the calls from desperate family members and friends begging for help in locating their loved ones. And sometimes, sadly, ED staff are asked to identify those whose bodies are found discarded in alleys and abandoned buildings. It is heart wrenching! Ernestine's Daughter has launched a public awareness and advocacy campaign to combat these tragic numbers.

With seed funding from the Chicago Foundation for Women, ED staff are educating the public and engaging with local community leaders and elected officials, including organizing a recent town hall meeting hosted by Congressman Davis and other state and local leaders to raise awareness and bring about change.

2026 Harvest Night Benefitting Ernestine's Daughter

An Evening of Purpose, Community and Impact

Team Members