About us · Established 2011
The story of how LightHouse Palm Beach County came to exist, and of the woman who would not let it go.
Becky Dymond
Founder & President
MS Counseling Psychology, LMHC
Qualified Supervisor
Our founder
For Becky Dymond, LightHousePBC began as a daydream in 2008, listening to a modern day abolitionist describe his plans for a home, a family setting, working with women rescued out of sex trafficking.
Becky started to imagine turning a nearby horse farm into something similar. The dream simmered in the background while she completed her Master of Science in Counseling Psychology, became recording secretary for the Palm Beach County Human Trafficking Coalition, opened a private mental health practice, and did extensive research on human trafficking while looking for a group already working with survivors locally.
Her research found nothing. No group in Palm Beach County specifically targeting this population with housing, counseling or practical support. Most resources went to under-aged minors or to international trafficking. Adult survivors, and the women who had aged out of other programs, had nowhere to go.
Then in the fall of 2010, looking for new office space, it turned out the very farm she had pictured three years earlier was for sale, with an out building that would make a perfect counseling office.
If you will risk for this population, I will meet you every step of the way.
Being a woman of faith, she took it to prayer. Every practical objection got resolved in an unexpected way. A benefit barn dance produced five times its investment, covering the legal, electronic and executive hurdles. Business advisers stepped up with strategic direction. Skilled volunteers appeared as if on cue for key positions. Federal nonprofit status was approved in under a month.
The name
The original nonprofit was called Hepzibah House. Hepzibah is a Hebrew word meaning "I delight in her."
It said exactly the right thing. It was also hard to spell and harder to pronounce. In 2021 the organization rebranded to LightHouse Palm Beach County, and the tagline said the rest of it: Shining Light. Bringing Hope.
The work did not change. Only the sign on the door.
Shining light, bringing hope to women involved in the commercial sex trade in our county.
Since 2010
What comes next
A social enterprise baking organic, non-GMO animal treats. It becomes a funding stream, and it lets us hire women out of the Pop-Up program on a cash basis so they have the dignity of an honorable paycheck.
Each woman would be paired with a mentor, with the goal of facilitating her escape from the life. We need start-up funding and volunteers.
Moving survivors from victims, to survivors, to triumphant thrivers. Programs run 12 to 18 months: therapy, life and job skill training, support, and graduated re-entry into adulthood.
We ran a five bed house before. We can do it again with financial backing from individuals and businesses, grants, and an in-house income stream.
A multi-plex housing unit. Full time employment required, rent paid as a percentage of income. If her car blows up or she loses her job, she is not back on the street at the end of the month.
It lets a survivor learn to walk in her liberty with a safety net underneath her.
Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections once a year, but when you volunteer, you vote every day about the kind of community you want to live in.
