Take Root-Helping Missing Children Recover

This page contains information about becoming a member of Take Root's Support Branch program for individuals who were abducted as children. If you were not abducted as a child but would like to assist Take Root, please click here instead.

You qualify for membership in Take Root's Support Branch Program if:

1. You were physically hidden from your family
   
2. You were taken by someone who was, or who you came to perceive as being, a family member
3. You are currently age 18 or older.

Embarking on a journey to understand how your past might be affecting you today requires courage, but you won't be alone. Every single Member of Take Root was hidden as a child. Each of us has a different story and set of circumstances, but we do share much in common....including being surprised to find a community where having been abducted is the norm!

Our members discover common ground whether taken by an abusive parent or to escape an abusive parent; by mother, father, or someone who became theonly family you had; as an infant or as an older child; with siblings or alone; settled under a new identity or constantly on the move....

° Was your name changed?
° Do you still struggle with issues of identity?
° Is your childhood among the long list of things left-behind?
° Were you forced to lie?
° Were you a child protecting your "care-taker"?
° Did you lose all sense of who you could depend on?
° Are you still trying to work out your relationship with your parent(s)?
° Do you continue to feel isolated, or haunted by your abduction?
° Were you physically or sexually abused?
° Does having been abducted change how you parent?
° Are you surprised to see other folks talking about being abducted?

..... These are examples of the types of common experiences Take Root Members share and discuss.

Our project has an additional mission beyond personal healing. Very little is known by missing child service providers, or by family members, about the lasting repercussions of a childhood abduction and the issues with which abducted children continue to struggle in adulthood. The unique insight provided by members participating in our Support & Advocates Network program is helping to shape treatment and services and resources available for today's generation of parentally abducted children, their families, and the professionals who assist them. Take Root provides our Support & Advocates Network Members with the opportunity to put difficult personal experiences to constructive use.

Confidentiality is very important to us. Whenever you see the name of a Member featured in Take Root materials, it is with that Member's expressed consent. Some of our Members do choose to participate in public speaking or sharing in order to raise issue awareness, but that is an individual choice and it is not necessary to go public in order to participate in and make a valuable contribution to Take Root.

TO BECOME A MEMBER OF TAKE ROOT'S
SUPPORT BRANCH PROGRAM:

Please check all that apply:

I was abducted by a family member
I am age 18 or over
I would like to join Take Root 

                                                                  Continue

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If you would like to learn more about the experience of joining Take Root, we suggest you read "Doing Fine," an article written by Founding Member and Public Affairs Coordinator Sam McClain about his initial reluctance to join, or "Belonging" by Take Root member Rebekah, about what finding Take Root meant to her.


A note from Take Root Executive Director and Member Liss:

I spent my life until age 33 reconciled to the idea that people's jaws would drop when I told my childhood story. It was my jaw that dropped the first time I told it and heard someone say "me, too" in response. I had a very different abduction story than the young woman I was speaking to, but there were many common threads - including challenges we had faced in adulthood. It was such a phenomenal relief to be able to talk to someone who'd been there! And, because of that, I was blown away that there were hundreds of thousands of cases of abductions by family members every year, yet NO identifiable resources or support for those abducted. Starting a comprehensive program became a mission.

As I started meeting others who had been abducted, they made it
their mission, too.

Take Root officially started in March , 2002, with a group of nine. We were 40 strong by January, 2003, when we successfully obtained a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. As of this writing, over 200 former abducted childrne have participated. And we are growing every day.

It can be overwhelming to suddenly be in contact with people who are all talking about a childhood abduction experience. Keeping our mission in mind can help you find your way as you bring into the open a story you may be used to keeping secret. Participating as a Member in Take Root programs not only provides you with support it also allows you to contribute. Currently our voice - and its understanding of child abduction from the child's perspective - is (pun intended) missing in the field of missing and exploited children. That needs to change. Together, we can make a difference in the types of services available to individuals and families impacted by parental abduction. Together, we can do more than recover missing children - we can help missing children recover!

Take care and Take Root!

Melissa "Liss" Haviv
Executive Director, Take Root
(360) 673-3720