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THE NEIGHBORHOOD News • Features
‘They made me happy to be me again’
Atlanta Redemption Ink helps transform symbols of hurt into symbols of hope
James Cooper, owner of Gate City
Tattoo, with Jessica Lamb (middle),
founder and executive director
of Atlanta Redemption Ink, and
Krisandra Evans (right), Gate City
Tattoo shop manager.
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By Donna Williams Lewis
I n 2016, Jessica Lamb went to a tattoo
artist to cover a symbol of her painful
past — a reminder of exploitation as a
teen.
What she got, instead of peace, was
even more pain.
“It was just such a horrendous
experience for me. I really didn’t care for
how I was treated in the process,” said
Lamb.
She decided to take action for others
whose unwanted marks came from
traumatizing situations.
“I thought, I want to make sure that
they are treated with the utmost respect
and the utmost care and they’re not being
judged or talked down to or sexually
harassed,” Lamb said.
What she found was “an incredible
network of artists in the tattoo and tattoo
removal field with some of the biggest
hearts for their community,” Lamb said.
Within the year, the East Atlanta
resident launched what is now a network
of trauma-informed tattoo artists and
tattoo removal specialists that stretches all
the way to California.
Lamb is the founder and executive
director of Atlanta Redemption Ink (ARI),
a nonprofit providing tattoo removals,
tattoo coverups and support services to
survivors of sex trafficking, commercial
sexual exploitation, self-harm, addiction
and former gang involvement.
Since 2017, more than 500
“overcomers” have been assisted by ARI.
One of them, Holly, whose last name has
been withheld, says the organization saved
her life.
“I was ashamed and so insecure of what
was on my body & ARI changed that.
They made me happy to be me again,” she
wrote, in a message to Lamb. “I received
10 beautiful works of art from ARI to
coverup all of my sex trafficking tattoos,
and it has impacted me to want to make a
change for young women like me as well.”
Applicants for ARI’s free tattoo-related
services are vetted by a scholarship team.
Through a new “Skin in the Game”
initiative, they can choose to contribute
toward cover or removal costs that can
range from $100 into the thousands.
The 80 artists currently in ARI’s
network either volunteer their services or
work at a negotiated rate.
James Cooper, owner of Gate City
Tattoo in East Atlanta Village, and Crystal
Boyd, owner of Piir Ink in Alpharetta,
have volunteered with ARI from just about
its start. Both say they were glad to find a
way to help others through their art.
One of Cooper’s first ARI clients stands
out most for him. He did an extensive
cover-up session for a woman with
multiple gang and sex trafficking tattoos,
covering them with Japanese peonies.
“She loved it. She cried. She was very
happy,” Cooper said. “If you’re trying to
move on in your life and you keep seeing
tattoos from a previous life it can be hard
to move on sometimes.”
Boyd covered multiple tattoos and a
scar from a gunshot wound for one of her
ARI clients. Among the approximately 30
she’s worked with, her first particularly
touched her heart — a woman who was
known for wearing big, bulky boots year-
round to hide the sex trafficking branding
tattoos on her feet.
“I remember her saying she just
couldn’t look at it,” Boyd said. “I found
out later that her friends were commenting
on how she was wearing flip flops. How
good that felt to be that last part of her
recovery.”
ARI is already being recognized for its
work, which includes offering therapy, an
education program, and training nationally
and internationally on the history of
human branding and its use in commercial
sexual exploitation.
Lamb, 37, made Georgia Trend
magazine’s 40 Under 40 list last year, and
she was selected as the Social Entrepreneur
honoree in Atlanta Business Chronicle’s
2022 Leaders in Corporate Citizenship
awards.
Aside from her work with ARI, the
mother of two works as an art therapist
at safe houses and for programs such as
Wellspring Living, an Atlanta nonprofit
that provides recovery services for women
and children at risk or victimized by sexual
exploitation.
Mary Frances Bowley, Wellspring
Living’s executive director, calls Lamb
“a creative and innovative leader in the
movement of restoring dignity to trafficked
survivors.”
“The practical aspect of Atlanta
Redemption Ink is to cover the tattoos
which were brandings by the trafficker.
But, what Jessica is truly providing for
survivors is dignity and a way to envision
a new future,” Bowley said. “Wellspring
Living is so grateful to Jessica and ARI
for providing this incredible service that
helps the women that we serve to not be
haunted by their past but encouraged
toward a new life and a bright future.”[E]
For more information, visit
atlantaredemptionink. com.
6 DECEMBER 2022 | DU
AtlantalntownPaper.com