[Note by Anthony: Once again, Julie Meadows performs a needed public service through her thorough investigation behind the actual agenda of Shelley Lubben's Pink Cross Foundation, and whether they truly seek to rescue girls from the porn industry, or simply exploit them worse. This was posted to her blog last June 28th; my sincere thanks to her for allowiing me permission to repost it here.]

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Why does The Pink Cross require porn stars to have full time jobs before they can get help?

Cocaine Incorporated posted this really great comment to my last piece entitled,  Shelley Lubben – Paranoid and Medicated (with the emails to prove it):

“I’ve met lots of criminals with ulcers, nervous twitches, crazy eyes…who are medicated to the hilt under doctor’s orders. It must be a guilt thing. Addicted to prescription drugs is still addicted to drugs. Many of these overly medicated people seemed to contradict themselves as necessity permitted at the moment, as well. I’ve looked at the Pink Cross calendar online, I’m not sure what she’s doing that is working so much, maybe preparing for the only two events on her calendar this month….BOTH of which are Lobbying. Are you spending all your time preparing for lobbying, Shelley? Don’t forget that your 5768 exemption means you can spend no more than 20% on lobbying, at your current donation level, without paying taxes on the remaining expenditures, but it also has a limitation as to how much time a board member can spend lobbying. I have a feeling your true lobbying expenditures are both over the 20% mark financially and constitutes most of the time you spend affiliated with the Pink Cross. Remember, the Pink Cross is not your company! I’m curious; does the Pink Cross pay for your personal website? It appears they may be hosted on the same server and potentially under the same hosting package. Also, if the number one problem a porn performer has when trying to leave the industry is ever obtaining a mainstream job, why is one of the requirements for any support over $500 that the person have a full time job first? Even worse, what benefit is it to have these people relinquish rights to any residual income from past work they may already be due? It would be like a rehab facility telling Tommy Lee he had to give up all his residuals from Motley Crue in order to enter rehab, and that would not be helpful or productive. They can’t relinquish it to the previous employer, so who are they relinquishing it to…the Pink Cross? Given your restrictions, and if the answer to that last question is yes, you could actually be contracting with these women in a way that you MAKE money off of them, instead of helping them.

Shelley, you obviously spend a lot of time around uneducated people, to have deluded yourself into thinking you are a genius. But anyone with even an average IQ can see that you are, in fact, a stupid woman. Looking at the evidence I can find, I am of the opinion that you are still the same con artist you, yourself, said you had become.

If you want to debate about 501(c)(3) code, Intellectual Property, Statistical Analysis, the Scientific Method, Logic, Psychology, Accounting, Quantum Physics, Ethics or even your misinterpretation of Christianity, you just let me know sweetie, because you’ll walk away with a worse fucking than you ever thought you got in porn.”

I received, from an anonymous source, an application The Pink Cross allegedly gives to the porn stars they potentially help. The application I received:

1) The very first lines reads: “Pink Cross Foundation: A non-profit organization offering emotional, financial and transitional support for adult industry workers their first year of recovery who are in the United States who qualify and depending on availability of our resources.”

“Depending on availability of our resources.” What? After you pay to go to conventions, which are expensive? After you spend how much of your time lobbying? If this really is an application The Pink Cross gives to performers who want/need their help, then those are legitimate questions.

2) “What we require for emergency short term assistance (up to $500 per year)” and “What we require for long term assistance (up to $5,000 per year)” – are the same term – one year. You’d think that “short term” would be… a shorter term. Also, it seems that the difference between $500.00 and $5,000.00 (depending on availability of resources, of course), is that the model must be “willing to be accountable to Pink Cross Foundation mentorship team, already have full time employment, stop receiving all funds, royalties, and gifts from prior industry and sex work, cannot take jobs related to anything in the sex industry, willing not to promote the sex industry, and willing to abstain from illegal drugs and excessive alcohol use.”

As Cocaine Incorporated points out, there is a sincere problem with two of these requirements.

WHAT IS THE POINT OF NEEDING HELP IF AN ACTOR OR ACTRESS CAN GO OUT AND GET A FULL TIME JOB? THE PROBLEM IS THAT IT IS VERY DIFFICULT, AFTER BEING IN THE ADULT INDUSTRY, TO GET A FULL TIME JOB THAT IS NOT ADULT INDUSTRY-RELATED. If this really is an application The Pink Cross gives to performers who want/need their help, how does this help someone trying to get out of the industry? The fact is, without financial assistance and help finding the job, there is no help to be gained because that’s the first concern. Income. So, “if funds are available” and you need help, but don’t have a job, you can quit the industry and get $500.00 in the interim (again, maybe)… except how do you know you’re going to get $500 help until you fill out the application and someone reviews it first? How long is the review process? “All applications must be submitted to Pink Cross Foundation for review and approval. Applicants must meet requirements for approval.” How is any part of this supposed to ease the mind of one of these women who have been harassed by this organization at trade shows (might explain why they don’t have the funds to help these women, Shelley allegedly eludes to this in emails I was sent from an anonymous source that I will post later)? How is this supposed to make a performer feel like they will actually get help? And if you sign up for short term help and get approved, does that mean you have forfeited your opportunity for long term help? Just because you couldn’t get a “full time” job first? What if you can get a part time job? All this looks like is a reason to not help, and in the event that they can help, to not help very much. $5000.00 is just a drop in the pond for an organization that sweeps in over six figures annually.

The next big problem in this list is “stop receiving all funds, royalties, and gifts from prior industry and sex work.” So the performer already did the work and is due whatever money they worked for, regardless of whether or not it’s a payroll check for a scene that’s already a few months in coming, royalties for a photo shoot executed to promote a toy line, website money based on fan memberships, etc… Even though this is the kind of money that can help them, and compensate for the possible lack of funds available from the organization, THE MODEL IS SUPPOSED TO DECLINE ALL MONEY FOR WORK IN THE INDUSTRY THEY’VE ALREADY EARNED. IF THIS IS REALLY AN APPLICATION THE PINK CROSS GIVES TO PERFORMERS WHO WANT/NEED THEIR HELP, DO THEY KNOW THAT YOU CAN’T JUST REFUSE YOUR MONEY? EVEN IF THE STATE HOLDS ONTO IT AS UNCLAIMED FUNDS, NO ONE CAN SPEND IT BUT THE PERSON IT BELONGS TO, AND THAT PERSON STILL HAS TO CLAIM IT ON THEIR TAX RETURN AND PAY TAXES FOR IT. Unless… The Pink Cross asks the performer to turn the funds over to their organization. Is that part of the “willing to be accountable to Pink Cross Foundation mentorship team,” line of “requirements?” And if they’re providing financial aid anyway, what does it matter if the performer keeps money they’ve already earned or hand it over to The Pink Cross and then The Pink Cross compensates them? I think it’s a very good question considering the application requires the performer disclose their Social Security number. And then what of the line “willing not to promote the sex industry?” Is this a vague agreement to publicly speak out against the adult industry? It doesn’t clarify.

So, let me get this straight, if I need to get out of the industry, I have to quit completely and cut myself off financially, fill out an application with no guarantee on how long it takes to get “approved”, turn all my information over to the organization and hope they approve me and then hope they have the funds, after all the traveling and lobbying and booths rented at industry events, to actually help me. Where is the help during the frantic nail biting period of, “Will they help me or not?” Why the booths at events to pull American Porn Stars in if she spent and could be spending more donation money to travel to Canada for a speech? So she can maybe help women in Canada, too?

3) What Pink Cross Foundation will do for you if your application is approved.

• Housing. We will refer and help you find housing and assist with security deposits, rent and moving expenses. (Does this mean a person who already has a house must find another place to live? It doesn’t really clarify. Maybe they expect a performer to move into a cheaper place than their current address. If this really is an application The Pink Cross gives to performers who want/need their help, it’s a legitimate question.)

• Counseling. We will provide mentorship within Pink Cross Foundation and referrals to local counseling programs. Will work to find these at no cost or if resources are available, we will help to pay a portion of counseling costs for up to six months. (“at no cost or if resources are available”, well which is it? At no cost is supposed to mean “at no cost”. Why say if resources are available? Does this imply a fee the perfomer may have to incur or not?)

• Transition Expenses: For the first month out of the industry we will provide some financial assistance to assist with purchasing of clothes, utilities, food, rent, etc. (I would think that if I am giving you my social security number, a guarantee to turn down money already due to me and have already found myself a full time job just to accept your help, you could give me more details and guarantees about how you are going to help me. After all, you gloat on your own site about how much you give to performers at conventions that aren’t even asking for your help.)

• Schooling if applicable and resources are available. (Schooling, if applicable? It appears the performer is giving up everything for some vague references at “possible” help so Shelley Lubben can continue to lobby and travel abroad and buy booths to hand out fliers to people she probably can’t actually help. If this really is an application The Pink Cross gives to performers who want/need their help, it is a joke.)

4) “How to get started: There is an application at the bottom of this document that is required in order to begin the process. Once you submit your application, we will look it over and have an answer to you within 7 business days letting you know if we are able to accept you into our program. If for some reason we are not able to accept you into our Recovery Assistance program, we still would love to offer you resources to help you such as referrals to jobs and services in your area, sex industry recovery help forums, mentorship and care packages and more. We will do whatever we can to help you. (Okay, so within 7 business days. Seems long, but I’ll let that one go. Does the performer get an explanation, after they quit their job and turned down their sex industry income and GAVE YOU THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMER as to why they won’t be getting your help? Now that they’ve put themselves at risk by giving you a photocopy of their ID and disclosed their real name and aliases and their social security number to you and subjected themselves to identity theft? And the last line is the most insulting, “We will do whatever we can to help you,” … except when we refuse you, or accept to help but don’t have the resources… Great.)

5) “What Pink Cross Foundation will do for you if your application is not approved: If for some reason you are not approved for financial assistance, don’t worry there is still help available. We will be glad to help you with job referrals, referrals to organizations and churches in your area that will help you and we offer personal encouragement and support through our sex industry recovery forums at www.thepinkcross.org. We will do whatever we can to help you!” (“We will do whatever we can to help you!” … unless you’re not approved and we don’t have the resources! WooHoo!!! It should have just read “Refer to paragraph: How to get started”.)

6) “Application Form: Please answer all questions. Sign and date the form. Also initial next to each of the requirements on the first page of this document stating that you understand that you will abide to those terms if you get accepted into this program.” (This is a contract, but it doesn’t specify where it begins as a contract. Does it begin from the date it’s signed, or the date the application is “accepted”? I wouldn’t give all my personal information over to these people and then sign it with no clear indication of where money from the industry that is due to me is going to go or whether or not these people can even help me once they’ve accepted helping me.)

7) Then they ask for all your information, and then at the end, “Please fax or mail the application along with a photocopy of your Drivers License/Photo ID and Social Security card to…” (Why do they need a copy of the Social Security card if this is only an application? If they haven’t agreed to help the person, why would the performer give them that? Employers don’t even ask for a copy of the SS Card until after they hire you.)

8 ) “All information you give to us will remain confidential. We only need your information for our records for tax purposes for the IRS.” (Except that you don’t need that, yet, if you don’t even know if you’re going to help someone.)

And this is only the beginning. If this is real, I mean really an application The Pink Cross gives to performers who want/need their help, I would have to seriously plead with sex industry workers to get their help SOMEWHERE ELSE. I got this from a reliable source, someone who was affiliated with The Pink Cross. There is much more to this. Much more…