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I received my master’s degree in Criminal Justice and Criminology in the winter of 2019. I remember feeling so fired up and ready to put my knowledge to use. Human trafficking was not at all a foreign concept to me, as it had been discussed extensively in a number of my courses. I knew about the buyers, the trade, and to what extent traffickers would go in order to avoid law enforcement. I had learned of policing tactics, correctional strategies, and criminological theories that explained what would influence an individual to engage in an illegitimate business. I entered the world of victim s ..read more

It’s no surprise COVID has changed every way we operate this last year. From personal to professional, a great deal of change has been forced on most of us in more ways than we anticipated. This has been abundantly true in my experience, as well. In a field where face to face interaction is about 90% of your work, not being able to meet with clients in person was definitely one of the greatest challenges I faced in 2020.  In-person interaction with the clients we serve is truly invaluable. A lot of our work involves just sitting with a client and being a solid object, or solid, steady per ..read more

Note: Names in the following post have been changed to protect the privacy and safety of the survivors we serve. — Alexis: you may know her story already if you follow our posts online. We recently shared her story as an example of perseverance and success in the face of great odds and multiple barriers. Alexis, you see, made many strides to reach freedom, and eventually opportunities for a new life. In the beginning, her strides were shaky and didn’t get her very far: she faced many complicated barriers, including isolation, manipulation, fraud, abuse, systemic breakdowns, and lack of resourc ..read more

Enjoy the little things. One day you’ll look back and realize they were big things. ― Kurt Vonnegut I think we can all agree that 2020 has thrown a lot of curveballs at us. Some of them were easy to “hit,” while others gave us a sense of striking out. My 2020 started off great; I moved out of my parents’ house and started a new job at CCAHT that I loved. Unexpectedly, COVID-19 came into our lives, bringing chaos and fear. Being a natural worrier, I started to overthink situations and my anxiety went through the roof. I worried about my family, my health, and wondered how we as a community wo ..read more

Disclaimer: Though I mention specific brands in this post, this is not an advertisement for those brands and I am not compensated for sharing those preferences. I am also not a fitness instructor or healthcare professional, so if you have specific questions about training, diet, or supplements, please consult your healthcare provider. — Every runner has a favorite piece of equipment they swear by. The Piece de Resistance, so to speak – like when you were 5 and you got new shoes so you just had to show everybody how fast you could run and how high you could jump. I’ve come to notice we never ac ..read more

“Stride.” Literally, to stride means to take a long decisive step in a specific direction. Figuratively, it means to step or make progress toward an aim or goal. Strides. We all make them.  Sometimes each stride is arduous and requires a lot of energy, like when you start training as a runner or you start taking action toward making great changes in your life. Sometimes those strides are glorious and with each one you feel a sense of accomplishment as you near the finish line. Or maybe each stride is its own finish line, as each stride took energy and courage to achieve. Strides, like bre ..read more

A couple of weeks ago, our team received word that a young woman we had served earlier this year had died. We’ve been taking time to process; to grieve. And we want to honor her memory by giving space and recognition to her life. We wish you could have known her. So here, while still honoring her privacy and the privacy of her family,  we want to share who she was with you. Here, we’ll call her Chloe. When you ask Amanda, one of our housing support staff, about Chloe, a smile immediately lights up her face. “After the first couple of nights that she was here, she perked up. Regardless of ..read more

I always hesitate when other people refer to me as a “runner”; a weird reaction for someone who runs 4-5 days per week, and has performed relatively well in any of the competitive events I have participated in. To me, “runner” is a reference to those professional athletes who compete in events and are basically superhuman. My personal running adventure will likely never get to this level of intensity, but my relationship with running helps shape the person I am, and in doing so serves as my own personal superhero weapon. Over the course of the next few weeks, to celebrate Share your Strides, I ..read more

Some of you may have heard of the ‘save the children’ hashtag. While this hashtag may have started out with good intentions to spread awareness about human trafficking, many popular social media hashtags and movements can devolve into perpetuating something more mythical than grounded. Some of these movements can sometimes cast a shadow over the truth of the girls and women we have the privilege to serve. It is a smokescreen for human traffickers. This is dangerous. Here’s the truth: traffickers are shrewd entrepreneurs. They are calculated and meticulous in their actions. Manipulating a traff ..read more