Stepping Stones Together

What Stepping Stones Together does

Stepping Stones Network, legally Oasis Productions (DBA), is a faith-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2011 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Its mission is to educate the community to prevent sexual exploitation and deliver comprehensive restorative care to survivors, primarily women and children impacted by sex and labor trafficking. The organization's flagship offering is the Moms & Kids Program, a 24-month, six-stage residential recovery program that provides housing, therapeutic programming, life-skills training, parenting support, trauma resolution, and addiction recovery services to survivor-mother/child family units in Cook, Lake, and DuPage counties. Reported outcomes include a 50% improvement in graduate BASK (Behaviors, Attitudes, Skills, Knowledge) scores across seven life spheres, and post-program child ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) scores that are lower than their parents' scores, indicating intergenerational trauma disruption. Complementary services include an Advocacy program for case-by-case support, a Monday-Friday Info Line for referrals and intake, a Resources library segmented by audience (church leaders, healthcare workers, parents, students, truck drivers), and a Speaker Presentations program.

The business model is exclusively donation-based — services are provided free of charge to survivors. Revenue streams span individual donations (including a $24/month '24 to Restore' recurring program and the Butterfly Circle for immediate needs), church partnerships through the 25 to Thrive Network (targeting $30,000/yr), corporate and business sponsorships (including Festival of Trees sponsors such as BCU and the Hombach Foundation), and Family Sponsorship commitments of $10,000 per family per year. The organization also accepts stock, cryptocurrency, and Donor-Advised Fund contributions via Infinite Giving. The go-to-market motion is community-led: a monthly 'Get Educated' Zoom session serves as the primary volunteer and donor pipeline, augmented by social media (Facebook, Instagram), email newsletters, speaker presentations, and the annual Festival of Trees fundraiser.

There is no proprietary technology platform; the organization operates on standard nonprofit SaaS tooling (Network for Good for donations, PWI Auction App for event bidding). Its principal defensible assets are programmatic (the 24-month structured curriculum and documented outcome metrics) and relational (the church-champion, business-champion, and volunteer networks). Geographic scope is explicitly regional — limited to three Illinois counties — with no disclosed expansion into adjacent markets.

Name

Stepping Stones Together

Legal name

Oasis Productions DBA Stepping Stones Network

Website

https://steppingstonesnetwork.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Stepping Stones Network is a Chicago-area 501(c)(3) nonprofit that delivers a 24-month residential Moms & Kids recovery program and prevention education for survivors of sex and labor trafficking and their children across Cook, Lake, and DuPage counties in Illinois.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Anti-Trafficking Recovery and Prevention Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (624110), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Justice, At-Risk Youth & Violence Prevention Nonprofits (BPAGADAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth Mental Health, Counseling & Wellbeing (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAK), Substance Use Disorder Prevention & Recovery Services (BPAGACAE)

Keywords

• Human trafficking recovery
• Sexual exploitation prevention
• Survivor residential program
• Community education outreach
• Faith-based nonprofit services

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible charitable contributions from individuals through online donation portals, monthly giving programs ($24/month '24 to Restore'), and one-time gifts. Donations support general operations and specific programs like the Butterfly Circle for immediate needs.
2. Church Partnerships: Church-based giving through the '25 to Thrive Network' with a goal of $30,000 annually from partner churches to fund the Moms & Kids Program and operations.
3. Corporate/Business Giving: Corporate sponsorships, business champion partnerships, and event-based giving through the Festival of Trees annual fundraiser.
4. Family Sponsorship: $10,000 annual commitment per family for the 24-month Moms & Kids Program, providing housing support ($6,000 average) and other programmatic support ($4,000).
5. Alternative Assets: Accepts stock, cryptocurrency, and Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) contributions for tax-advantaged giving.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Stepping Stones Together (operating as Stepping Stones Network) is a faith-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that educates the community on sexual exploitation and delivers a 24-month, six-stage residential recovery program (the Moms & Kids Program) for mothers who are survivors of sex and labor trafficking, together with their children, in the Chicago metropolitan area. The organization supplements direct survivor services with prevention education, advocacy, an information/intake line, speaker presentations, church engagement networks, and an annual Festival of Trees fundraising event.

Product overview

Stepping Stones Network is a non-profit trafficking recovery organization offering a suite of interconnected community-based services rather than a technology product. The core offerings include: the Moms & Kids Program (a 24-month residential recovery program for trafficking survivors and their children), Community Engagement and Prevention & Outreach services, an Advocacy program providing case-by-case support, an Information & Intake Info Line for referrals, Resources for various audiences (general public, students, parents, church leaders, healthcare workers), and a Volunteer Network with monthly education sessions. Additional programs include the 25 to Thrive Church Champion Network and Speaker Presentations for education and awareness. The organization also runs an annual Festival of Trees fundraising event.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Moms & Kids Program 24-month residential recovery program for mothers who are survivors of sex and labor trafficking and their children, providing safe housing, therapeutic recovery, life skills, parenting support, trauma resolution, addiction recovery, and education/job preparation across Cook, Lake, and DuPage counties in Illinois.
• Community Engagement Program that activates community members and local churches by raising awareness of sexual exploitation and offering specific engagement pathways including the Church Champion Network and monthly Get Educated sessions.
• Prevention & Outreach Public education program that raises awareness of exploitation risk factors, aims to protect youth and adults from becoming victims, and provides advocacy support for those affected.
• Advocacy As-needed support services including advising concerned friends or family, reporting trafficking to law enforcement, mentoring survivors, and recruiting safe or foster families.
• Educational Resources Library of educational materials and training resources tailored for the general public, students and parents, church leaders, healthcare workers, and truck drivers, including a Church Leadership Video Series and internet safety resources.
• Info Line (Information & Intake) Phone-based intake and referral service available Monday through Friday 9am-4pm at 224-931-0919, providing help, referrals, requests, and answers to questions about services, with emergency escalation to 911 or the Rescue America 24/7 Hotline.
• Speaker Presentations Team of trained speakers who deliver in-person, virtual, or pre-recorded presentations to churches, businesses, healthcare workers, first responders, community groups, and parents on sexual exploitation awareness, healthcare training, healthy/unhealthy uses of sex, and parent safety.
• 25 to Thrive Church Champion Network Church-based engagement program aiming to enlist 25 churches in anti-trafficking work, with an annual fundraising target of $30,000 through partner churches to fund the Moms & Kids Program and operations.
• Volunteer Network Volunteer onboarding program that recruits and screens individuals through monthly Get Educated sessions, an application, interviews, and background checks before placing them in service roles.

Quantifiable outcome

• Graduates' BASK scores improve by 50% from baseline across seven spheres: Life Skills, Holistic Health, Parenting, Relationships, Trauma Resolution, Addiction Recovery, Spirituality
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• BCUminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate sponsor of the Festival of Trees annual fundraiser event.
• Cuneo Mansion & GardensminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVenue partner for the annual Festival of Trees event in Vernon Hills, Illinois.
• Kenzy MarketingminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMarketing sponsor for Festival of Trees annual event.
• Butterfly DeVriesminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEvent sponsor for Festival of Trees fundraiser.
• Northbrook CourtminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMall venue partner for Festival of Trees tree displays (November 2021 event).
• FillaHeart4KidsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to donate trees to group homes housing foster care children in Chicagoland area through the 2021 Festival of Trees event.
• Shared Hope InternationalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResource partner providing internet safety resources for students and parents as recommended on Stepping Stones Network's Resources page.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• A21: Global anti-trafficking organization delivering prevention education, survivor aftercare, and recovery programs. Comparable to Stepping Stones Network's combined prevention/outreach and survivor services model, though operating at significantly larger scale.
• Thistle Farms: Nashville-based nonprofit providing residential recovery and economic empowerment for women survivors of trafficking, exploitation, and addiction. Directly comparable in offering a long-duration, holistic residential program for adult female survivors with measurable recovery outcomes.
• Tapestri: Atlanta-based nonprofit providing holistic services and advocacy for survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence. Directly comparable as a community-based survivor-services organization with case management and prevention programming.
• Rapha House: Faith-based anti-trafficking nonprofit operating residential restoration homes and prevention programs in the US and abroad. Directly comparable in offering faith-informed, long-duration residential recovery for trafficking survivors.
• Unbound Now: Houston-based anti-trafficking organization operating survivor advocacy and prevention education. Comparable as a regional anti-trafficking nonprofit combining direct survivor services with awareness and training programming.
• Courtney's House: Washington DC-area nonprofit providing shelter, outreach, and prevention education for survivors of sex trafficking. Directly comparable as a smaller, regionally focused anti-trafficking organization combining survivor services with community awareness.
• Restore NYC: New York City nonprofit providing safe housing, holistic care, and economic empowerment for foreign-born survivors of sex trafficking. Closely comparable in delivering residential, multi-stage restorative programming for adult female trafficking survivors.

Broad incumbents

• Shared Hope International: National anti-trafficking organization focused on prevention, policy advocacy, and survivor identification training. Already a resource partner of Stepping Stones Network and comparable in the training/resource side of the work, though it does not run Stepping Stones' residential model.
• Safe Horizon: Large New York-based victim-services organization providing shelter, counseling, and advocacy across multiple crime categories including trafficking. Comparable as an incumbent survivor-services provider, though at much larger scale and broader scope.
• Polaris Project: National anti-trafficking organization operating the US National Human Trafficking Hotline and large-scale data, policy, and survivor-support programs. A broader incumbent in the same mission space, with overlapping survivor-referral infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SteppingStonesNetwork
• Instagraminstagram.com/steppingstonesnetwork
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stepping-stones-networklc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Stepping Stones Together