When Julia* began working with the staff at One More Child as a human trafficking survivor, she was overcome by the trauma of her experience. She had not worked for more than a year and, as in the case of many trafficking survivors, rejoining the world beyond her windows seemed impossible.
Julia’s fear was so extreme she requested that her One More Child Case Manager leave items she needed at her front door, return to the vehicle, and then call Julia to let her know it was safe to retrieve them from the porch. She was a prisoner in her own home.
But in the four months since beginning the One More Child Anti-Trafficking program, Julia began to overcome her debilitating fear and has already accomplished so many victories as a survivor.
For example, after a few interactions with her One More Child Case Manager, Julia became more comfortable with our staff, first allowing her Case Manager into her home and then other OMC staff. This victory enabled Julia to receive several services our program offers that are important to her recovery.
Though she initially turned down One More Child counseling services, Julia acknowledged the value of talking about her trafficking experience and expressed wanting to try counseling again. Recently, Julia met with a new counselor and now says she is looking forward to starting therapy.
After some time, Julia also requested to take walks with her Case Manager to gain confidence being outside her home. As a result, Julia felt safe enough to get a job working remotely, saying she hopes to be able to work outside her home someday, which would be a huge victory since she has not felt safe to leave it for so long.
Julia was also able to write an impact letter to the judge working on her trafficking case, bravely describing how the crime committed against her has affected her ability to live a full and healthy life, emotionally and physically, and boldly giving a voice to what so many survivors struggle with in silence.
Finally, Julia recently got married and, wanting to have a better understanding of issues they are working on together, is seeking further support from One More Child with her relationship through a mentor and clinician.
For a trafficking survivor to ask and receive help in these areas is a great accomplishment. This progression, the increasing momentum, in her recovery shows that Julia wants to continue to grow personally and work through hard things independently – things that will allow her to live the full and healthy life she had been denied in her trafficking experience.
In just four short months, Julia has gone from being homebound to allowing staff into her home, to taking walks, to having a job and asking for support with her most personal relationship. We call this healing.
We praise God for the work he is doing in Julia’s life, and we say thank you to the dedicated One More Child staff who have, literally, walked alongside her during her ongoing recovery.
*Names have been changed to protect privacy.