The county formally cut ties with the ministry, costing it thousands of dollars in funding and opportunities to further its calling and minister to survivors of sex trafficking, according to a federal lawsuit filed last week on Gracehaven’s behalf. The contract would have allowed Gracehaven to staff its third group home and open four more rooms to girls in need, according to the lawsuit. Instead, the ministry has had to turn away over a dozen girls from staying in a group home because of the government’s withdrawal of funding, the lawsuit alleged.

In 2004, Ohio Dr. Jeff Barrows felt called to fight child sex trafficking. He set out to help young girls overseas, but that quickly changed after he learned that as many as 2,000 girls in his home state were victims of sex trafficking. After speaking with advocates, Barrows shifted his vision from Asia back to Ohio, where he aimed to open a safe home for sex trafficking survivors to heal from physical and emotional trauma. Barrows called his vision “Gracehaven” and nearly a decade later, the ministry’s first safe home opened its doors. Gracehaven has grown to serve clients from all over Ohio with three state-licensed therapeutic group homes that offer medical care and trauma counseling to survivors of childhood sex trafficking, according to the ministry’s website.

But now the ministry is being threatened because of its religious beliefs.

One county, Montgomery, has used public foster care funding to contract with Gracehaven for seven years, sending it minors who needed its services. Then this year, Montgomery County cut all funding to Gracehave because the religious nonprofit hires exclusively employees who share its Christian beliefs. The county added a non-discrimination clause to the most recent contract, requiring Gracehaven to remove an addendum adding religious beliefs from hiring criteria.

“Gracehaven empowers young girls rescued from sex trafficking by helping them thrive with dignity in a renewed life,” said Scott Arnold, Gracehaven’s director.

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