Sister Nadine Buchanan, OP, who has been widely recognized for her work in the last 16 years aiding victims of human trafficking, is celebrating her golden jubilee as a member of the Dominican Sisters of Peace.
Sister Nadine, a native of Zanesville, made her perpetual profession of vows for the congregation then known as the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs in August 1975. She received a Bachelor’s degree from Ohio Dominican University and a Master’s degree in education from Ohio State University, obtained a chaplaincy certification and is a member of the National Association of Catholic Chaplains.
She initially served as an elementary school teacher and later was in hospice ministries before becoming involved with CATCH (Changing Actions to Change Habits), a program set up by the Franklin County judicial system to assist in the recovery of persons convicted of prostitution more than once.
She met human trafficking victims at the jail when they were released, drove them to a rehabilitation center, provided them with a support package of clean clothes and other items and continued her support as they went through the CATCH program.
She also has been active Freedom a la Cart, which empowers survivors of sex trafficking and exploitation to build lives of freedom and self-sufficiency through employment in the restaurant industry. She has literally taken it to the streets for Save our Adolescents from Prostitution (SOAP), leaving bars of soap printed with the phone numbers of human-trafficking rescue agencies at various hotels.
She also loaded her car with items to distribute in areas where girls and women are sold and exploited, particularly on Columbus’ west side.
“I would just open my car door and offer them something to eat … there were so many victims that I felt they needed people whom they could feel safe with,” she said. “Women I encountered were both starved and barefoot. … I would simply offer them something to eat, clothes, shoes and toiletries.
“If people that I have come in contact with now see me as helpful, then I can say I have made small differences in a problem as big as human trafficking. God has had a mantle around me, I know he helped me improve other’s situations. My life as a sister is a calling from God.”
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