HELPING CAPTIVES
...is a Christian anti-trafficking and support organization serving the Spokane Washington and Northern Idaho regions. We exist to honor God by providing opportunities for freedom and safety to those exploited by sex trafficking through prevention, intervention, and recovery services.
At Helping Captives we provide residential, trauma-informed, therapeutic stabilization services to adult female victims of human trafficking by offering medical, spiritual, mental, and emotional care as well as 24-hour housing and food. We welcome all women regardless of age, race, color, creed, or religion. Survivors in pain can be assured they will find love, acceptance, and a calm place to breathe at Helping Captives.
Helping Captives also offers education and resources to individuals, families, churches, schools, first responders, businesses, bikers, and anyone potentially coming into contact with survivors. Without our community of support, many sexually exploited women end up in lifelong abuse and addiction, some even die in the trafficking life. Our organization empowers people to fight trafficking and help survivors in our community.
The Ministry
Helping Captives was founded in 2015 as a ministry partnering with churches and organizations to perform outreach to the community. Originally, Helping Captives was HRC Ministries, from the initials of Harry, Randy, and Caleb Altmeyer. As the outreaches continued to grow, and they got more involved in their community, they began hearing stories of women and children being trafficked and knew they needed to act. Today Helping Captives ministers to survivors of trafficking through intervention, stabilization, and recovery services.
A Family Journey
Harry Altmeyer was born on September 7, 1920. While his father wanted nothing to do with God and would even burn his mother's bibles, at 12 years old Harry decided to follow Jesus and was baptized at Grace Baptist Church in Spokane.
At the age of 15, Harry started working in the Grocery Industry and would continue in that industry for most of his life. In 1948 while working at the B and K market in Spokane, he met a waitress who worked across the street named Earline. The two were married in 1949 and soon after had 5 sons.
In 1956 Harry and Earline decided to put their faith in action and started volunteering with their children at the Union Gospel Mission. Due to Harry’s commitment and consistency to helping the homeless in our community, he was asked to be a board member in the early 1960s. Then, in 1976 he was asked to step in as the Executive Director of Union Gospel Mission. That decision impacted their oldest son Randy so deeply, that shortly after, in 1977, he began feeling the call to ministry as well.
In 1978 Randy and his wife Shelley were married and excited to dive into ministry. Five months into their new marriage, however, Randy and Shelley were in a horrible car accident that left Shelley paralyzed. Due to their faith in Jesus, Randy and Shelley didn’t let that hold them back and continued into ministry. Eventually, in 1985 Randy would join his father Harry in ministering to the homeless and would continue his work at the Union Gospel Mission as the Men’s Shelter Director for 30 years.
Randy and Shelley wanted to be parents and eventually, they had two sons, Caleb and Jonathan. Caleb is the oldest son, he loved God growing up but eventually started to struggle with the concept of God due to his mother being paralyzed and ended up rebelling in his high school years. However, at the age of 18, God spoke to Caleb in a dream calling him back out of a life of partying and drugs and into ministry. After a few years of intensive discipleship at his church and lots of support from his family, Caleb started a ministry to help youth in Spokane.
In 2014, A pastor friend of Randy’s called and told him that he had someone he needed to meet. Little did they know that meeting would change their family’s life forever. The person that Randy met was a dear family friend and she began to tell her story of how she was trafficked from a young age.
This story broke Randy’s heart and he shared it with his family. The next day Caleb brought up the story in his staff meeting and one of his co-workers began sharing her story of being trafficked as well. At this point, the family knew they needed to do something to help.
Caleb happened to be going to Boston so he took a little road trip to Plymouth Rock to pray, while Randy went on a 40-day water fast in the woods. As Caleb prayed he saw the names Harry, Randy, and Caleb and felt God tell him to go home and continue the legacy of his family and to work with his father to help reach hurting people in the Spokane area.
During the fast, Randy felt God tell him that he was to retire from UGM after 30 years to go work with his son Caleb to fight human trafficking.
In 2015, Randy retired from Union Gospel Mission, joined Caleb in ministry, and formed HRC Ministries, now called Helping Captives. Today, Helping Captives focuses all its efforts on the fight against human trafficking and welcomes others to join them in the fight.