by Mary Gadberry,
January 16, 2024 – To help bring awareness to human trafficking and its effects in our community, the 8th annual Pledge to Stop Trafficking (PTST) was held at Sierra Vista Mall on January 16, 2024.
Chairperson Tiffany Apodaca, from Breaking the Chains, hosted the event, designed to kick off their pledge drive. Volunteers were on the corners of Shaw and Clovis, collecting donations from drivers.
Gabriella Ramirez, Miss Clovis 2024, is so passionate about raising awareness and preventing human trafficking and exploitation that she has dedicated human trafficking awareness as her platform.
Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni spoke briefly, as did Clovis Police Chief Curt Fleming and Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama, about the issues in the community and the help that’s available.
A check for $2,500 was presented to Breaking the Chains and another, also for $2,500, was presented to Project 1414.
Event attendees included Clovis Mayor Lynne Ashbeck and Mayor Pro Tem Vong Mouanoutoua, as well as police chaplains and community members.
Human trafficking is big business, the second most profitable criminal activity in the United States. The Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission has a division, called Central Valley Against Human Trafficking (CVAHT), that actively works with individuals caught up in and escaping from a human trafficking situation.
CVAHT is able to provide many needed services, such as emergency shelter and transitional housing, case management, and referrals to other programs, among others.
Along with other partnering agencies, CVAHT serves Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Kern, and Tulare counties. CVAHT was started in 2009, after staff at EOC’s Sanctuary Youth Services started seeing more minor girls at their shelter that told them that they had been involved in sex trafficking.
To help combat this, EOC’s Sanctuary and Support Services created the Central Valley Freedom Coalition through a federal grant from the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
One of the local agencies that assists individuals in rebuilding their lives is Breaking the Chains in Fresno. Breaking the Chains was started by Debra Rush and Tiffany Apodaca, both survivors of abuse and trauma.
BTC’s facility includes safe housing, a classroom, child care center, and a mobile command unit, and they have also branched out into more rural areas. Breaking the Chains is regularly able to offer trauma-based services to an average of 75 survivors and their families each day.
Central Valley Justice Coalition is another agency in the fight against human trafficking here in Fresno. They partner with both church and community and believe that educating the public is the most effective way to prevent trafficking.
In addition to providing information to adults, they have a group called Students Ending Exploitation, focusing on teenagers where the outreach and education are provided by their peers.
Centro la Familia has been assisting people since 1972. Originally a small group of Fresno City College Chicano Studies who got together to help immigrants complete social services forms, it has grown into an agency able to offer many programs for un-served and underserved individuals, with outreach workers fluent in English, Spanish, and Hmong.
Centro la Familia provides services in the areas of family strengthening, victim services, health and wellness, immigration services, policy and leadership, and education and outreach.
Mollie’s House provides twenty-four-hour residential care for young women ages 12 to 17 who have escaped from a trafficking situation, whether sexual or domestic.
Mollie’s House is a faith-based group founded by Torella McAllister-Minor, a survivor herself, and offers young women a safe environment in which to heal.
Project 1414, named after the scripture Exodus 14:14, is dedicated to providing a therapeutic program for young adults in recovery from abuse and neglect as well as sexual exploitation.
Project 1414 launched a campaign to build their first safe house in December 2023, recognizing the need for facilities like these in the Central Valley.
If you, or someone you know, needs help to escape human trafficking or exploitation, you can call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at1-888-373-7888 or text “Help” to 233733 (BEFREE), or call CVAHT locally at (559) 500-7630.