TACOMA, Wash. — Christine Gilge has seen it all.
"I have a niece that, at the age of 14, ran away," Gilge says, "and she was picked up by a pimp."
As a jail chaplain and street minister, she's worked with many victims of human trafficking.
"Every week I meet with anywhere from 12 to 20 women. And I hear their stories," she says.
As the director of Adorned In Grace Tacoma, she's found a beautiful way to help them even more.
Gilge says, "What can I do? I have to be able to do something."
The nonprofit shop accepts donations of new and gently used wedding gowns and other formal wear. Their new store location stocks more than 3,000 dresses.
They sell them at a deep discount, then use the money to support victims and help stop the abuse.
"We've gotten amazing donations from people with amazing stories," Gilge says. "Every one is just so unique."
One designer dress, originally valued at $15,000, was donated by the grieving husband and six-year-old son of a young mother.
"So my heart breaks," Gilge says. "I grieve also. But what a beautiful way that can be turned into something beautiful that will bless another bride."
A legacy sealed and lives saved, through love, one dress at a time.
"We don't see these dresses as just a commodity. They represent a soul."
