By Rich Sanders
Jared Cartee may be from a small town in Alabama, but he has developed a global presence here in the Emerald Coast by working to help victims of a worldwide crisis: human trafficking.
Jared and his wife, Julia, met during their studies at Troy University. While there, Jared was called into campus ministry and pursued that mission field for more than ten years. After living in a few different places, Julia developed her business with Plexus, a health and wellness company, and they had a lot more flexibility to focus on their faith and family.
Once he and Julia decided to move to the Emerald Coast with their five children in 2023, however, God called Jared into an entirely different area of ministry. His new friend and fellow Christian Capitalist, Bruce Bailey, alerted Jared to the global crises of human trafficking with a simple problem locally: while law enforcement efforts at intervening and rescuing women and children from human trafficking have dramatically improved in recent years, a person rescued from that horrific situation has nowhere to go!
Jared, working with a non-profit called Safe in the Panhandle, set out to change that situation. He, Bruce, and local law enforcement officials agreed that victims needed a temporary sanctuary to recover from these terrible situations, rest and recuperate, and figure out their next steps in a safe environment that supports them and validates them as humans.
With this goal set before them, Safe in the Panhandle developed Ruthlake Farm, a sustainable sanctuary for women to recover and start the journey to healing with a 24/7 emergency shelter. On the day we recorded his podcast episode, Jared was sore: “I just planted 1,400 blueberry bushes yesterday!” The goal of all those blueberry bushes, orange trees, and honeybee hives is to provide agricultural sources of revenue for Ruthlake Farm… and to provide a way for people to work their hands and take their minds off their recent traumatic events.
Ruthlake Farm is already operational. The 24/7 emergency shelter aims to open its doors in October and begin hosting victims of human trafficking to help them begin their long road to recovery. Once she leaves Ruthlake Farm, a woman can choose to go to one of over seventy long-term trauma recovery centers around the nation as a next step in her healing process. Safe in the Panhandle will also host a Christmas market November 21-22 at the Emerald Coast Convention Center. You can learn more about it and help anytime by making a donation at safeinthepanhandle.com.
Jared recently appeared on the Christian Capitalist podcast in April of this year, and you can listen to the entire episode on SOWAL Life’s website! We are excited to share inspirational stories of hard work and generous giving to the poor and needy in the name of Jesus Christ, like Jared, Safe in the Panhandle and Ruthlake Farm!
Rich Sanders is a pastor, small business owner, retired healthcare attorney and adjunct professor at Emory University, and former intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy. He and his wife, Rebekah, met at church in 1996, have been blessed with three children (James, William and Caroline) and live in Destin with their large golden retriever, Cowboy.
