People Of Housing Security:
Carissa Muncie

Carissa Muncie has fond childhood memories of living in a stable and loving family in Columbus, Indiana. Throughout adolescence she began to notice not everyone shared this experience. 

A pivotal moment in Carissa’s life was learning about childhood abuse in 8th grade. Knowing there were suffering children and families made Carissa sick. She had trouble sleeping knowing there were people without a safe place to sleep. Her mother tried to soothe her overwhelmed heart with these words: “When you’re older one day, you can be part of the solution.”

At 14 years old she made a vow to one day foster troubled youth. Little did she know then that in the years to come she would also be a co-founder of Sojourn House, a 501(c)(3) that is working to end the cycle of family trauma by providing support and case management for women who have been exploited or trafficked. 

During undergrad at Ball State University, Carissa studied Deaf Education. For the next 20 years she was an American Sign Language interpreter. At the age of 25, Carissa and her husband Ben decided to become foster parents. Over the years they have fostered 24 children. They adopted 4 of the children they fostered. Carissa and Ben are now parents of 7 children. 

Fostering and eventually adopting fulfilled Carissa’s desire to be a support for children who have endured childhood trauma. However, she longed for ways to support the parents of the children she was fostering. During her years fostering, she learned that many of the parents had been trafficked or exploited in some way. Carissa was appalled when she found out that some of the children she was fostering were also victims of trafficking, which subsequently led them to the foster care system. 

Carissa believes so many of these broken relationships could have been mended if the adults had been supported to end the cycle of exploitation in their lives. She thought to herself: “What if I could be a soft place to land for these parents?” This moment is what birthed Sojourn House in 2019. 

Carissa and her best friend Amy Meek began to brainstorm ways they could contribute in ending the cycle of exploitation. They took a road trip to learn from different organizations working to end human trafficking. They look to Thistle Farms, located in Nashville, Tennessee, as their mentor organization. Sojourn House is a part of a sisterhood network of agencies working to end the exploitation of women.

The model Sojourn House and these agencies utilize includes up to 2 years of rent-free housing with programming and case management in an authority-free environment. Programming includes classes with topics such as budgeting, recovery, codependency, self-esteem, job-readiness, goal setting, trauma resolution, emotional regulation and many others. 

“The lack of Housing is one of the biggest vulnerabilities”

Sojourn House offers human trafficking classes at the emergency shelters in the community so women can know the signs of exploitation and have the tools to protect themselves or process what’s previously happened to them that they may have been unaware of. 

There’s a misconception that trafficking is exclusively kidnapping and smuggling. Carissa clarified that trafficking at the base line is people with some power that are manipulating those that are vulnerable. “The lack of housing is one of the biggest vulnerabilities,” Carissa said.

That is why Sojourn House follows the Housing First model, Carissa added. “Housing is important for these women because it offers them a safe and soft place to land.”

When faced with opposition, Carissa noted that “knowing these women personally is what brings the fight in me to give me that endurance to keep going.”

As co-founder of Sojourn House, a few of Carissa’s weekly tasks include supporting staff to make sure they have resources they need and updating policies to ensure the safety of residents and staff members. Additionally, she spends her time coordinating volunteers, meeting with donors, fundraising, and hosting weekly house meetings with staff and residents. 

Everything Carissa does for Sojourn House is done on a voluntary basis. She is not a paid staff member. She explained that “this is just love here.” Since Carissa’s work is all volunteer based, she also does graphic design part-time for her church and her kids’ school. In addition to graphic design, Carissa also does trauma-informed classroom support consulting for schools. 

Carissa’s family and the joy they bring her refuels her on difficult days. In her home, “everything is up for jokes and grabs for laughter.” In her free time, you catch Carissa enjoying a bonfire with her family when the weather is nice.

About the People of Housing Security: This series highlights the work of those committed to improving the lives of residents in South Central Indiana. Find all the articles in this series here.