RCK President Chris Lambert introduced RCK Member Susan Dakak who introduced our speaker, Debby Schriver, Executive Director of Key to Me, a Knoxville-based nonprofit organization formed to address coercive control situations found in cults, domestic abuse and human trafficking. Ms. Schriver is a Rotarian – a member and former President of the Volunteer Rotary Club.
Ms. Shriver wrote a book about the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries Cult titled Whispering in the Daylight, The Children of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries and Their Journey to Freedom. She recounted that in 2008 some 300 children were taken from an Alamo compound in Arkansas into state custody. Their parents, Alamo followers, were ultimately given a choice of abandoning Alamo and getting their children back or abandoning their children. All of the parents chose Alamo. Ms. Schriver has over the years worked with many of those children. They have physical, emotional and psychological scars from their time with Alamo. Alamo had previously been in prison on various tax charges. Following the 2008 raid he was convicted of federal Mann Act human trafficking charges and sent to prison. He died in prison in 2017.
Keys to Me was formed by Ms. Schriver in 2008 at the suggestion of some of the Alamo survivors. The purpose of the organization is to educate communities and workers in understanding and recognizing coercive control and to connect with victims of coercive control situations to create a path for them to return to a healthy life. It works with law enforcement, courts, health care workers, families and survivors themselves. Coercive control can be difficult to recognize. The frequent trigger to get authorities involved is child abuse. RCK Members Susan Dakak and Susana Navarro are on Ms. Schriver’s Board at Keys to Me.
Ms. Schriver reported that there are cults of various kinds operating in Tennessee, including here in Knoxville. And, in part because of Interstate Highways 40, 75 and 81, East Tennessee experiences considerable human trafficking.