Courage Worldwide Faces Renewed Allegations Concerning New House in Washoe County, A Decade After Exposes in Sacramento Bee
The Courage Worldwide Facebook page has an Indeed listing in its top intro section for a part time Residential Supervisor / Coach to be paid 20 to 25 dollars an hour.
“Direct Care Staff are the backbone of Courage House. They provide 24/7 support and supervision for adolescent residents, model healthy behaviors, ensure safety, implement daily schedules, and engage youth in recreational and theraputic (sic) activites. They also document services, manage crises, and support trauma-informed treatment goals under the guidance of the Clinical Director and Home Administrator,” the listing indicates.
One person who said they were a recent employee there told Our Town Reno they felt it was an extremely unstable environment with lots of turnover and disgruntlement among all levels of staff. A mom who says her daughter has been there also says it feels short staffed with extremely questionable practices. Both shared concerns about pervasive camera surveillance on site, with access allegedly going to a phone.
“I am terrified of retaliation but am broken for all the people who actually wanted to see a new home for girls open in Nevada,” the mother wrote as part of her allegations. Both wrote they weren’t surprised of past allegations against Courage Worldwide in its previous California iteration.
We reported previously that while Courage Worldwide got fawning coverage from several local television stations for hosting a summit at UNR in May 2025 and then for opening their new complex in our area to help child survivors of sex trafficking, a look back a decade ago points to much less flattering exposes by the Sacramento Bee.
While previously based in California, the Courage Worldwide Facebook page currently has a Lakeside Drive address as its headquarters.
Its 40-acre property in northern Nevada was initially described as offering care for “18 children across three cottages, with our first phase of implementation providing immediate housing for six residents.”
The website states it also has two locations with special programs operating in Tanzania.
Its Courage House Nevada page says Nevada ranks second in the U.S. for trafficking incidents per capita, and its listed purpose on a recent tax form is to provide “homes and resources for children who have been recovered from sex trafficking worldwide,” but the mother who wrote to Our Town Reno says that is not the case of her own daughter who she says was placed there by a county case worker.
The website now indicates Courage House Nevada opened in Spring 2026 with housing for just five girls, with trauma informed therapies, on site education, life skills training, mental health treatment plans and family reunification support.
The organization’s Northern California home closed in 2020 “due to residents transitioning out of the program and the COVID pandemic occurring. These previous residents continue to receive resources and services from Courage Worldwide as they progress in their healing journeys,” according to its website.
The most recently available tax filings from 2024 have Jennifer Williamson listed as Secretary for the nonprofit having a yearly compensation of $100,000 with overall yearly revenues and expenses at about $900,000.
On the website, Williamson is listed as CEO and Founder. Her bio says she moved to northern Nevada with her husband Michael, and that they co-own Williamson Energy, an energy consulting business.
A Nevada Chapter Board on its About Us page includes Richard Jay, well known for his different local leadership roles, Steve Shell, who lists himself as Vice President of Behavioral Health and Keith Schillo, listed as a senior commercial banker.
“We’re so grateful to share that Courage House Nevada welcomed its very first girl home on April 9th,” Courage Worldwide wrote on Facebook in May. “Since then, we’ve been approved for a second young lady and are interviewing a third. After years of hard work and preparation, girls in the US are finally finding safety, support, and healing through Courage House Nevada.”
Rewind ten years ago though and it was all bad press in articles by the Sacramento Bee.
“No Turkey trot. Donors slip away from sex trafficking nonprofit,” read one headline. “‘Spiritual warfare,’ ‘demonic attacks.’ The role religion played in home for sex-trafficking victims,” read another.
The articles pointed out that in 2016, the nonprofit started in 2005 with a “vision” from God, saw Williamson close a six-bed facility for girls under 18 due to being cited for state violations including inadequate staffing levels and no current administrator working at the home.
A former employee told the Bee the nonprofit had been cited over a dozen times in the first half of 2016, with other violations such as breaching privacy. Previously the reports indicated the nonprofit had been cited for not respecting residents’ freedom of religion and forcing them to attend church services every week.
Other former employees pointed to a volatile environment with high turnover among staff, unexpected firings and micromanaging, as well as recurring complaints on the use of identifiable images of girls staying at the home being posted on social media.
One licensed therapist was quoted as saying the situation was “abusive.” The article indicated previous clients were enrolled by social workers or probation officers netting the facility about $9,000 a month per girl in government support.
In the articles, Williamson called the citations and accusations baseless, absurd and unfair.
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