A Christian leader on a mission to stop sex trafficking has embarked on a fascinating journey to redeem a former strip club, purchasing the establishment and turning it into a center to transform women’s lives.
Anti-trafficking leader Caleb Altmeyer, founder of Helping Captives, recently told “The Bible Bros Podcast With Billy Hallowell and Dalton Harper” how he and his team made the stunning decision to purchase the former club and transform it into a center aimed at rescuing and restoring victims.
Altmeyer said the quest to purchase the center began after he fully realized the depth of the human trafficking crisis. At first, his ministry had begun exploring how to help women and was quickly overwhelmed by what they encountered.
“We thought that we were going to help three to five women,” he said. “And we had 21 women go through our house [in] nine months.”
That rapid influx exposed a sobering reality: trafficking isn’t a distant or minimal problem; it’s happening in communities across America, often hidden in plain sight.
So, what started as a smaller outreach quickly became the central focus of Altmeyer’s ministry. As the need expanded, so did the vision — and his team decided to solely focus on anti-trafficking efforts.
They then began praying about creating a “Freedom Center,” a place where women could receive immediate care, detox, counseling, and long-term support. That dream soon became a reality when an unexpected opportunity emerged: a local strip club shut down.
That’s when Altmeyer said an idea took hold, and the Lord stepped in.
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“I was like, ‘You know what, God? Maybe you’re crazy enough that you would [take] a strip club that was known for objectifying women and turn it into a center that would be known nationally for helping women come out of trafficking,’” Altmeyer recalled thinking.
The anti-trafficking leader started taking steps to secure the building, but the road wasn’t easy. At one point, the ministry was offered an opportunity to potentially participate in a $1 million grant to help acquire the property. But there was a catch: the funding, if it was secured, required the facility be employed for “secular use only.”
Altmeyer said that the condition forced him and his team to totally rethink accepting the money, as it would have required them to abandon their faith-based model — one they know is essential and effective.
“We love Jesus… we can’t do it,” he said. “Or I could take Jesus out of our ministry… which we’re not okay with doing because that’s the only thing that truly heals people coming out of this horrendous situation.”
Walking away from that kind of money wasn’t easy, but Altmeyer and his team did just that, trusting the Lord along the way. Over time, that trust was honored incredibly.
“By the grace of God, we just got the funding that came in last week… and just paid the building off yesterday,” he told “The Bible Bros.”
Now, the property is fully owned, free of restrictions, and on its way to becoming the Freedom Center that Altmeyer and his team had long wanted. The team still needs to raise $1.6 million for remodeling and preparation as the journey continues.
The urgency behind the project is hard to ignore, as trafficking is a massive problem that isn’t getting any better.
“This is the fastest-growing criminal industry in the world… It’s past drug sales now,” Altmeyer said. “What we can say is it’s happening everywhere, and it’s happening all the time, and it’s probably happening in a city near you.”
Despite the darkness, Altmeyer and his team are seeing lives transformed. Some of the women now serving in his organization are survivors themselves.
“And they’re free,” he said. “And they know how to fight this stuff.”
It’s a powerful reminder that even in the most unlikely places, transformation is possible, and that light always breaks through the darkness.
