Safehouse 4 sex trafficking victims
Tax deductible
I am a survivor of sex trafficking and I knew once free I needed to go reach others. I am the founder and executive director of Loving You Where You Are At. It was founded in October of 2012. I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, ritual abuse, sex trafficking and work in the commercial sex industry. I was trapped in that world for almost 20 years. Loving You Where You Are At currently visits 12 strip clubs, 4 brothels and an LGBTQ club all across the Tampa Bay area every month taking in the reminding message they are Loved, Valued, and Purposed and support is here. We are in the process of opening a safe house for women 18+. We are passionate about making known the issues surrounding sex trafficking, sexual exploitation, and sexual abuse. In 2016 we received a Human Trafficking proclamation from the Pinellas County Board of county commissioners for the work we do . I am also a public speaker sharing my story and awareness on Sex trafficking. You can read more in my book No Safe Place from Childhood Abuse To Sex Trafficking
After building many relationships with those we reach and opening two drop-in-centers where we offer survivor led support groups as well as help with both tangible and intangibe needs, we started to notice a HUGE gap in the anti trafficking movement. As we built trust with these precious women they began opening up and sharing their horrifying details that are all too familiar. “89% of women in the commercial sex industry said they wanted to escape, but had no other means for survival” 70% of females who are trafficked are trafficked into the commercial sex industry” We began to see these statistics come alive. These precious women were wanting out. One of the many gaps is housing for these precious women. There are less than 200 beds for women 18+ in the USA ,while Human Trafficking is the second largest crime. In my opinion it's probably number one because many being held captive we don't know about. I will have someone wanting out and franticly start trying to find a bed. Sometimes we will find one (mostly out of state) and many times we don't. When we can't find somewhere they go back to their captor. I knew we had to do something and we started praying for a house. We were recently donated a house to use but that's only half the battle, after researching I have learned it will cost us close to $200,00.00 to run it annually. I have included an image that breaks down an estimate of what it will cost to run this home annually.
This will be a twelve month, three-phase program. For some precious women we serve it could be longer. We will treat each woman on an individual basis. We are aware everyone heals differently and this won't be a cookie cutter program. There are only two homes in the Greater Tampa Bay Area for women who have been sexually exploited/trafficked.
You can be a part of ensuring we have a place for these women to go and begin to restore their lives. This home will house 6 women. We will not go above that number as we want this to feel like a family atmosphere. This will be 6 more open beds for these precious women to be free! Please share this and help us. We would love to be able to open as soon as possible. Right now there is a house waiting to be used but we have a lot of money to raise.
After building many relationships with those we reach and opening two drop-in-centers where we offer survivor led support groups as well as help with both tangible and intangibe needs, we started to notice a HUGE gap in the anti trafficking movement. As we built trust with these precious women they began opening up and sharing their horrifying details that are all too familiar. “89% of women in the commercial sex industry said they wanted to escape, but had no other means for survival” 70% of females who are trafficked are trafficked into the commercial sex industry” We began to see these statistics come alive. These precious women were wanting out. One of the many gaps is housing for these precious women. There are less than 200 beds for women 18+ in the USA ,while Human Trafficking is the second largest crime. In my opinion it's probably number one because many being held captive we don't know about. I will have someone wanting out and franticly start trying to find a bed. Sometimes we will find one (mostly out of state) and many times we don't. When we can't find somewhere they go back to their captor. I knew we had to do something and we started praying for a house. We were recently donated a house to use but that's only half the battle, after researching I have learned it will cost us close to $200,00.00 to run it annually. I have included an image that breaks down an estimate of what it will cost to run this home annually.
This will be a twelve month, three-phase program. For some precious women we serve it could be longer. We will treat each woman on an individual basis. We are aware everyone heals differently and this won't be a cookie cutter program. There are only two homes in the Greater Tampa Bay Area for women who have been sexually exploited/trafficked.
You can be a part of ensuring we have a place for these women to go and begin to restore their lives. This home will house 6 women. We will not go above that number as we want this to feel like a family atmosphere. This will be 6 more open beds for these precious women to be free! Please share this and help us. We would love to be able to open as soon as possible. Right now there is a house waiting to be used but we have a lot of money to raise.
Organizer
Christa Hernandez
Organizer
Tampa, FL
Loving You Where You Are At, Inc
Registered nonprofit
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