rose

From Grooming to Control - Join us Feb 13th

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 15:19:04 GMT

JOIN US FOR A VIRTUAL TRAINING. SIGN UP HERE!

Jan 16th - Rooted in Resilience: The Crocus and Rose Ball

Fri, 09 Jan 2026 19:00:15 GMT

Join us January 16th!

Event location:

The Agave Room, The Rio, 149 W Mountain Ave, Fort Collins, CO 80524

Event date:

January 17, 2026 @ 05:00pm – 9:00pm MST

Rooted in Resilience: The Crocus and Rose Ball

An Elegant Night of Salsa, Strength, and Solidarity

Step into an evening where beauty meets bravery, and every step on the dance floor helps pave a path to freedom. Rooted in Resilience: The Crocus and Rose Ball is more than a gala. It’s a celebration of courage and community, raising vital funds for Justice Now of Northern Colorado and A Courageous Rose in their mission to fight human trafficking and support survivors.

Guests will enjoy:

�� A lively salsa dance lesson (dance partner not required to join)

�� An elegant ballroom celebration filled with music, joy, and connection

�� A full spread catered by The Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant, complete with their famous margaritas

��️ Opportunities to champion survivors

�� Real life testimonies from survivors of trafficking

�� Exciting paddle raise to move the missions forward

This is a night of rhythm, radiance, and resilience. A chance to dress your best, dance with purpose, and stand alongside those who have overcome unimaginable hardship.

Every ticket purchased, every toast raised, and every candle supports the fight against trafficking and fuels the journey from surviving to thriving.

A Courageous Rose on FOX31 Morning News

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 17:11:59 GMT

Watch Maria on KDVR FOX31 Morning News here.

Gasping For Air - Northern Colorado Medical Society

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 20:49:35 GMT

Maria Tell Founder of A Courageous Rose and survivor of human trafficking partnered with Fort Collins Police Department Criminalist Laura Knudsen to create a powerful human trafficking training for medical professionals.

LEARN MORE HERE

November 8th 2025 - Human Trafficking Awareness Training

Thu, 16 Oct 2025 20:01:58 GMT

RSVP TO: COLETTE.TEN24MINISTRIES@GMAIL.COM

Join Maria Tell on April 11th for a Lunch & Learn Webinar

Thu, 03 Apr 2025 19:57:47 GMT

Join Maria Tell on April 11th at Noon at our April 2025 Lunch & Learn Webinar Series

View additional info here.

Guest Barista Day - 4/24, 9AM - 11AM

Thu, 03 Apr 2025 14:29:18 GMT

Join us April 24th at The Human Bean for a Guest Barista Day!

Human Trafficking Event

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 15:09:50 GMT

Event on Thursday April 17

April Lunch & Learn Webinar Series

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 15:16:27 GMT

Sign up for our webinar here!

Join us every Friday in April at noon for a new Lunch & Learn Webinar Series on advanced topics in human trafficking. Experts from around the country will share critical insights on emerging issues along with strategies and solutions in the fight against trafficking. Geared for advocates, mental health specialists, educators, and other professionals, the sessions are free but require advance registration.

When? Fridays in April, from 12:00 – 1:30 PM (EST)

APRIL 4 - Invisible Chains: Understanding and Combatting Familial Trafficking of Boys, presented by: Robert Lung and Russell Wilson

APRIL 11 - Complex Trauma and Addiction: A Survivor’s Story of Childhood Exploitation and Adult Human Trafficking, presented by: Maria Tell

APRIL 18 - Sextortion: A Call To Action, presented by: Tim and Tamia Woods, and Kathryn Rifenbark

APRIL 25 - Understanding Ritual Abuse and Mind Control, presented by: Chelsea Van Essen

Scroll below for session descriptions and speaker bios.

Date & Time

You can choose to attend one or more of the following webinars.

Apr 4, 2025 10:00 AM

Apr 11, 2025 10:00 AM

Apr 18, 2025 10:00 AM

Apr 25, 2025 10:00 AM

Alliance to End Human Trafficking Event - 4/25/25

Thu, 13 Mar 2025 17:13:18 GMT

Alliance to End Human Trafficking

April, 25 2025: 6-8pm

Founded and Supported by U.S. Catholic Sisters

Human Trafficking Symposium

Hope in Action: Ending Human Trafficking

April 25, 2025

St. Norbert College

Cassandra Voss Center

311 Grant St.

De Pere, WI 54115

6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Central Daylight Time

Speakers to include:

WI Rep. Jerry L. O'Connor (R-Assy.Dist. 52)

Katie Boller Gosewish, Executive Director

Sally Ann Brickner-Sisterger St. Francis of the Holy Cross

To register, contact marilyn@alliancetoendhumantrafficking.org

www.alliancetoendhumantrafficking.org

Engaging Your Culture - Open House - Ministry Fair - March 6th

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 15:38:57 GMT

ENGAGE YOUR CULTURE IN 2025

It's time we all engage our passions to have a godly impact on our culture. The Cultural Impact Team requests your presence at our Engage Your Culture Open House, Thursday, March 6th at 6:30pm. Local organizations from foster care, right to life, protecting kids, prayer teams, helping single momma's and many more will be available to share their mission and answer questions on how you can engage with them and follow your God given passion

Mar 6, 2025

6:30–8:30pm

Location

Citipointe NoCo

5657 McWhinney Blvd

Auditorium 2

Loveland, CO 80538.

GET DIRECTIONS

From UCOUNT: We are honored to partner with Fort Collins Police Services and A Courageous Rose in the fight against human trafficking!

Mon, 24 Feb 2025 15:14:11 GMT

FROM UCOUNT: We are honored to partner with Fort Collins Police Services and A Courageous Rose in the fight against human trafficking!

Laura Knudsen's work is hard but necessary, and we are so thankful she has stepped up to serve in this way. Maria leads A Courageous Rose with compassion and understanding, allowing it to have a respected place in our community and beyond.

We pray for wisdom, protection, and grace over both groups in their work as fierce advocates on behalf of trafficked individuals.

From Fort Collins police: "Human trafficking" describes a crime where traffickers exploit adults or children for labor or commercial sex to make a profit. We know that law enforcement agencies can play an enormous role in shaping perceptions and guiding the public conversation about human trafficking. FCPS Criminalist Laura Knudsen recently spoke at the Northern Colorado Medical Society awards, sharing how medical professionals can assist law enforcement, identify victims of human trafficking, and connect them to resources. Laura was joined by the non-profit Courageous Rose, who provided perspective from a survivor of human trafficking.

Be an advocate; learn more at the Colorado Human Trafficking Council Website https://dcj.colorado.gov/.../ovp/what-is-human-trafficking . If you think you or someone else is being trafficked, call Colorado’s Human Trafficking Hotline at 866-455-5075 or text 720-999-9724.

#SafetyAndServicForALL

TEN24 MINISTRIES & A COURAGEOUS ROSE ANTI -HUMAN TRAFFICKING 101 CLASS

Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:08 GMT

Friday Feb 28th 2025 - Join us for our Anti-Human Trafficking 101 Class

REAL LIFE TESTIMONY BY MARIA AND MORE!

From The Baltimore Sun: ‘It’s in every ZIP code’: Human trafficking is in Maryland too, experts say

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 16:45:45 GMT

FROM THE BALTIMORE SUN

More than a million people live in conditions of modern slavery in the United States today, according to the Global Slavery Index, or about 3.3 out of every 1,000 people in the country.

At least 240,000 of those — more than 22 percent — are victims of sex trafficking, according to other studies, a jaw-dropping average of about 4,800 per state. In Maryland, the numbers are stark.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline has received about 6,000 hotline calls and other types of reports from Maryland since its inception in 2007. It found 1,533 human trafficking cases involving nearly 3,000 victims in Maryland during that period, the Baltimore Sun reported last year.

Human trafficking is a term that refers to both sex work and other forms of exploitation, including forced labor. The SAFE Center, which primarily serves Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, has helped more than 400 sex and labor trafficking survivors since it was founded eight years ago, The Sun report noted.

The numbers are so overwhelming that those who devote their lives to fighting the multibillion-dollar human trafficking industry say they can find themselves losing hope.

That debate came to Baltimore this week.The Alliance to End Human Trafficking, a nonprofit established in 2013 by a group of Catholic nuns from across the United States , brought reams of facts, testimony from individuals who have survived the trafficking trade, and some of the latest best practices in the anti-trafficking field.

“Sometimes people scoff and say to me, ‘Is it realistic to try to prevent human trafficking when it’s such a huge and complicated problem?'” said Katie Boller Gosewisch, executive director of the Brighton, Michigan-based group since 2022.

“I say it’s a lofty goal, but it’s our identity,” she said. “It’s who we are and what we want to accomplish. Pope Francis declared this to be a jubilee year of hope, and that’s exactly what we want to bring to what we do.”

As befits an illicit industry with tentacles in so many familiar elements of modern life, a group of experts brought together by the organization in Baltimore opted to address the subject of human trafficking — mainly sex trafficking but also its less visible twin, labor trafficking — from multiple points of view.

Marianne Thomas, a survivor of human trafficking and a behavioral psychology specialist who teaches in a sex trafficking education program at St. Thomas University in Miami, spoke Wednesday about how adverse childhood experiences can leave young people more psychologically vulnerable to the predations of sex traffickers.

That much exposure to substance abuse, sex abuse or violence, known as Adverse Childhood Experiences (or ACEs), can be a catalyst for trafficking. That means experts in Maryland and elsewhere must find a way to break intergenerational behavior patterns within families to help prevent tragic situations in the future.

Eileen McKenzie, a member of the Catholic order the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, who works with asylum seekers in the U.S. Southwest, spoke of the vulnerability of immigrants to criminals seeking to enslave others for profit on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border.

According to the Polaris Project, a non-governmental organization that works to prevent sex and labor trafficking in North America, people from Latin America make up almost a third of the population of victims of human trafficking in the United States.

Most of the victims are from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic.

Marcia Eugenio, the director of the office of child labor, forced labor and human trafficking in the U.S. Department of Labor, outlined how trafficker-employers routinely threaten immigrant victims.

Those include threats of deportation, forcing immigrants to work in hazardous conditions without adequate safety gear or compelling them to live in overcrowded conditions they provide.

Cristian Eduardo, a 34-year-old immigrant, spoke of being a smart, well-behaved, high-achieving young man while growing up in Mexico.

But after he came to the United States, he fell into the company of skilled traffickers who used his then-undocumented status to compel him gradually into a life of sex slavery. He said he didn’t even realize he was being trafficked.

Had his parents or others around him taught him about bodily autonomy as a young man, he said he might have realized what was happening to him. And had he known about the danger and prevalence of smart traffickers and how they operate, he would not have been ensnared by it, said Eduardo, a trained engineer who has become an anti-sex trafficking advocate over the past decade.

He also stressed the importance of keeping an eye out for people who might be subtly displaying signs of enslavement, like downcast eyes or an evident lack of financial independence in the presence of another, older person, for example.

“It isn’t just young people from dysfunctional families who become susceptible to traffickers. Watch out for those kids who seem to be doing so well in life that the adults around them just assume they don’t need to be looked after,” he said. “Keep an eye on your kids. And if you don’t educate your kids, some trafficker out there will be happy to.”

Three other survivors echoed that theme.

Kris Wade, an anti-trafficking activist from Kansas City, Missouri, described growing up in a loving family in western Kansas. But she said she had such a rebellious attitude she gravitated toward older people with money and cars who could shower her with gifts, even though her parents tried to warn her away.

“I was the smartest 18-year-old in the world, and I knew it,” she told a rapt audience.

She said when she became a mother, she frequently told her daughter she’d always be there to take a phone call from her and help her, no matter what kind of trouble the daughter might have landed in.

“Don’t punish them for coming to you when they need you,” she said. “Praise them for calling you. Tell them, ‘I don’t approve of the behavior, but I love you , and nothing is going to change that as long as I live.’ That can make all the difference.”

Two other survivors who have become activists, Jennifer Footle of Denver and Maria Tell of Fort Collins, Colorado, also told their stories.

Both agreed that parents need to share age-appropriate lessons with their children, telling them they have a right to bodily autonomy, that it’s wrong for others to touch them without permission and to give children a realistic sense that there are people out there will them harm for money.

“I was naive,” Footle said. “If I had known more, my life might have gone in a different direction.”

Tell echoed the idea.

“I was looking around at the airport on the way here, and everyone I saw was on their cell phone. People aren’t talking to each other,” Tell said. “They aren’t interacting face-to-face. Put your phone down. Talk to your kids. And tell them the truth. Our kids deserve to hear the truth.”

Boller Gosewich said the alliance’s roots are in Catholic social teaching, which underscores “the dignity of the human person.” And the idea that human beings can be bought and sold as commodities is “a devastating blight on the dignity of the human person.”

Demand for the sex trafficking business, which Boller Gosewich said is so vast in the United States today that “believe it or not, it’s present in every ZIP code.”

Experts said that we must better educate young people, particularly boys — the vast majority who procure paid sex are men — of the need to respect women and inform them of women’s rights.

“Demand is the driver,” Eduardo said.

It’s but one part of a complicated puzzle, but to activists, that’s no reason not to keep pushing in the right direction.

“I always keep the words of Mother Teresa in mind,” Tell told her audience. “We are called to be faithful, not successful.”

Founder of A Courageous Rose, Maria Tell, is on the Survivor Advisory Council for The National Alliance to End Human Trafficking

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 16:47:46 GMT

Founder of A Courageous Rose, Maria Tell, is on the Survivor Advisory Council for The National Alliance to End Human Trafficking. She serves on this Council with several other survivor leaders throughout the country. The group met here, for the Pathways to Prevention Conference, located in Baltimore, MD, to discuss future plans for 2025 for Alliance. Pictured here are all the survivor leaders and members of the Alliance Board.

For more info, please visit: https://alliancetoendhumantrafficking.org/

Human Trafficking Survivor Panel

Sat, 01 Feb 2025 15:19:32 GMT

LISTEN TO MARIA SPEAK AT THE PATHWAYS TO PREVENTION CONFERENCE FEBRUARY 5-7, 2025

VIEW FACEBOOK HERE

A Courageous Rose survivor leaders, Founder Maria Tell and Joshua Constatine partnered with Justice Now

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 16:12:29 GMT

A Courageous Rose survivor leaders, Founder Maria Tell and Joshua Constatine partnered with Justice Now, Dax and Ashley Bush to train Loveland Police Department SRO’s on the warning signs and potential red flags of human trafficking in our local schools. Protecting our youth is our priority at ACR. Thank you to Justice Now and Loveland Police Department for allowing us to participate! We are truly honored!

A Courageous Rose at the Loveland City Council meeting

Wed, 28 Aug 2024 14:35:28 GMT

In a presentation that brought some members to tears, Loveland City Council learned more about how the worldwide phenomenon of human trafficking is impacting communities like Loveland.

Maria represented A Courageous Rose at the Loveland City Council meeting along with Loveland Police Chief Tim Duran, Lieutenant Heather Moore, and Greg and Vicky Dix with U COUNT. Lieutenant Moore did a training on human trafficking. To read the full article, please go here.

Join Us in a Prayer to End Human Trafficking and Abortion

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 15:25:18 GMT

Every Tuesday at 10:30 outside of Planned Parenthood

Happy Birthday Reese!

Thu, 04 Jul 2024 16:48:26 GMT

We want to wish our volunteer, Reese, a very Happy Birthday! We love you, Reese! Thank you for all you do!

Happy Birthday to our founder, Maria Tell!

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 16:50:20 GMT

Happy Birthday to Maria!

Pray the Anti-trafficking Movement be Guided by the Holy Spirit - PUSH (Pray Until Saturation Happens)

Sat, 01 Jun 2024 14:43:08 GMT

Watch the video now.

Rise Up Dance Project - Little Red Event

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:44:35 GMT

Little Red

Little Red is a family-friendly production that sheds light on human trafficking through a non-traditional telling of Little Red Riding Hood. Rise Up dance project will be partnering with dancers from Ballet Magnificat, Reverend Rhythms, and The Studio for this full-length production. This event is a fundraiser for the RISE campaign, which directly impacts kids in safe houses in El Salvador and Rise Up Dance Project's Rise Campaign. We are partnering with other non-profits in Northern Colorado that serve at-risk children locally and worldwide in this event.

Inner Vitality Chiropractic - Supporting A Courageous Rose

Sun, 10 Mar 2024 15:09:14 GMT

For the month of March, Inner Vitality is supporting nonprofit, A Courageous Rose

All New Patient Comprehensive Evaluation Just $49
100% donated to this amazing charity that helps to empower human trafficking survivors to reclaim their independence.

Mention this ad when scheduling at https://ivc.janeapp.com or 970-300-2166

BE THE CHANGE - Thursday March 28th 2024

Wed, 06 Mar 2024 19:33:42 GMT

Get Involved! CIT Engagement Fair. Come learn how you can get involved with issues closest to your heart. Several local organizations will be here.

Thursday, March 28th

6:30pm - 8:30pm

Citipoint Church 5656 McWhinney Blvd Loveland CO

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

TPUSA

https://www.tpusa.com/

Patriot Academy

https://www.patriotacademy.com/

Birthline of Loveland

https://birthlineloveland.org/

Winsome Ministries

https://winsomeministries.org/

Protect Kids Colorado

https://www.protectkidscolorado.org/

Colorado Prays

https://www.coprays.org/

Keep Colorado Free and Open

https://www.keepcofree.com/

A Courageous Rose

https://www.acourageousrose.org/

A Friend for You

https://www.afriendforyou.org/

City Reach

https://www.coloradohouseofprayer.com/cityreach

Don't Mess with our Kids

https://www.dontmesswithourkids.us/

Task Force Freedom

https://www.taskforcefreedomnoco.com/

Lighthouse - Faith Based Sober Living

https://www.lighthouseftc.org/

A Courageous Rose and Ten24 Ministries

Sun, 03 Mar 2024 15:39:25 GMT

Ten24 Ministries partners with Beauty Renewed to host economic empowerment workshops for survivors of human trafficking twice a month. ACR’s founder, Maria Tell, attended these workshops when she was in the beginning stages of healing. “I was so very touched by the love these women showed me when I felt like I had nobody on my side. I still find such a joy from all the women who helped me and they are still uplifting me constantly!” - Maria

Other survivors on our Board, Sandra and Nicole, also attended these workshops, and some still do!

Now ACR has a chance to also help! We put a huge emphasis on nutrition, and taking care of ourselves! We were able to give away 8 bags stocked with healthy foods and even some vitamins and supplements. Thank you to our generous donors for making this possible.

The Dusty Daisy Ranch crew was also present at the workshop, presenting to the group about values and goal setting.

Life Decisions Presents: Maria Tell

Sun, 03 Mar 2024 15:37:11 GMT

Special thanks to Pastor Randy and his wife, Julia, for supporting ACR and our mission.

Wed, 28 Feb 2024 16:11:41 GMT

Special thanks to Pastor Randy and his wife, Julia, for supporting ACR and our mission.

And to the one and only Kevin Williams: we love you! Thank you for introducing us to The Poudre Christian Fellowship family! We are honored to have spent this Sunday with you all. May God continue to bless you abundantly

Maria Tell - Sunday 2/25/26 at Poudre Christian Fellowship

Mon, 26 Feb 2024 14:40:40 GMT

Sunday 2/25/26 at Poudre Christian Fellowship, located in the beautiful Poudre Canyon, our very own Maria Tell shared her testimony of how Jesus saved her from human trafficking! PRAISE JESUS!

Missions - Missions Lunch & Learn

Thu, 11 Jan 2024 19:04:26 GMT

Join us as we hear from Maria Tell, founder of A Courageous Rose. She will share her own personal lived experiences of sexual exploitation and how she is using her story and degree in Criminal Justice to assist The Department of Homeland Security with undercover operations. Maria also works to educate law enforcement and fire stations in rural areas as well as school districts, jails, and anti-trafficking organizations. Lunch will be provided. RSVP's are required, RSVP HERE !

Monday, January 15th at 12-1pm

Fort Collins Timberline Church, Room 214

God will not allow you to be lost if you persist in your determination not to lose Him.

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 17:35:15 GMT

“Pray, hope, and don’t worry” is probably Padre Pio’s most famous saying. However, we cannot forget about the second part, which is: “Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.”

PADRE PIO - PRAY FOR US!

ACR and Ten24 Ministries trained Ault, CO police department.

Mon, 09 Oct 2023 19:22:47 GMT

ACR and Ten24 Ministries trained Ault, CO police department on human trafficking and the impact of law enforcement. Maria is pictured here discussing myths of what trafficking looks like in our country. Ropes, chains, cages - that is what comes up when you Google trafficking. However, this is not accurate. These images can be harmful because it makes it difficult to identify when this is what everyone is expecting to see. Trafficking victims are hidden in plain site.

Community Partner Meeting at Ziggi’s Coffee

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 13:08:44 GMT

ACR is actively planning and fostering relationships with other community partners to help the most vulnerable. Here are some game changers in the anti-trafficking movement here in NoCo and beyond!

U Count

https://ucountcampaign.org

Beauty REnewed

https://www.iambeautyrenewed.com

Zonta Club Greeley

https://zontagreeley.org

Dusty Daisy Ranch

https://www.dustydaisyranch.org

Ten24 Ministries

https://www.ten24ministries.com

Photos From the 40 Days for Life Anti Human Trafficking Event

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 14:16:23 GMT

The 40 Days for Life Anti Human Tracking Event included a training with Adam String, a Senior Criminal Investigator in the Human Trafficking Unit at the Denver District Attorney’s Office and a Task Force Officer with the Cyber Guardian Task Force, with Homeland Security Investigations.

Other community partners who attended the event were Life for the Innocent and Dusty Daisy Ranch . View photos from the event below.

40 Days for Life - Human Trafficking 101

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 14:14:58 GMT