The support of Pulpit Rock Church, and the first six months of Aftercare have had an incredible impact.
At the end of 2023, The Exodus Road’s Freedom Home aftercare shelter expanded to a second location. Our staff on the ground walk with survivors as they journey out of exploitation, providing safe housing, trauma-informed therapy, medical care, life-skills classes, vocational training, and community internships. Through the Christmas offering in 2023, Pulpit Rock Church helped fund these critical services for survivors entering into their healing journey at Freedom Home.
FREEDOM HOME REGISTRATION
Freedom Home has been able to double its capacity since the end of 2023, adding a second home and an additional 10 beds. In honor of the program’s excellent standard of care and diligent administration, the Department of Social Welfare awarded Freedom Home an official registration as a certified aftercare provider and shelter. The Exodus Road is the first organization to receive this certification in Chonburi/Pattaya in over 10 years and many officials attended our ribbon-cutting celebration in February.
As a result of this registration, the government has requested Freedom Homeplace 7 minor girls aged 12-17 (1 of which has since returned home) who had particularly urgent needs for high levels of care. What began as a short-term placement has become a longer-term opportunity as our social work team has assessed each girl’s case and determined their need for longer-term healing and support.
Thankfully, the addition of a second home has enabled an age-appropriate level of care for these young women in a safe environment while still allowing us to serve adult survivors as originally intended.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PAST 6 MONTHS
Additional highlights from the past 6 months include serving 171 survivors plus 9 family members in Thailand in the following ways:
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Supporting 36 total survivors with post-intervention and/or ongoing aftercare support, 16 of whom have entered our residential care program through Freedom Home.
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Providing medical assistance to 30 survivors
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Offering legal support to 23 survivors
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Funding vocational training for 7 adult survivors and celebrating 3 who have successfully acquired an internship or job placement!
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Supporting the educational and developmental needs of 7 minor survivors
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Providing 94 cumulative counseling sessions to 36 survivors
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Equipping 16 survivors with life skills such as budgeting, saving, cooking, reproductive health, interpersonal relationships, emotional regulation, future thinking, and coping skills
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Offering 135 survivors training in sexual and reproductive health and trauma coping skills at a partnered government shelter
REINTEGRATION
We are also happy to report that 3 survivors have successfully reintegrated into their chosen community, having demonstrated their ability to meet benchmarks including self-sufficiency, economic independence, budgeting ability, housing security, mental & emotional stability, personal safety, physical health, and a positive relational support system. Our social work team continues to provide follow-up visits and support for two years post-reintegration.
81% of our reintegrated survivors have been prevented from returning to exploitative situations after 6 months and 100% of our current Freedom Home residents have remained free of exploitation.
TRAINING FOR FREEDOM HOME STAFF AND SOCIAL WORK TEAM Additionally, we have provided self-care training to 5 members of the Freedom Home staff and equipped our social work team to facilitate our prevention education program, Equip & Empower. Two of these social workers will travel to the NE region of Thailand to facilitate 5 training events in at-risk schools this coming June.
AFTERCARE IN LATIN AMERICA
The Exodus Road’s Colombia* team has helped to bring freedom to an ever-increasing number of survivors, largely female minors. Your gift helped our teams extend care and respond to the urgent and unique needs of 65 young women in the immediate days and weeks following rescue this year.
We do not yet have our own aftercare home in Colombia, but we are able to facilitate the healing journeys of survivors in a variety of ways, both directly, and through partner shelters, such as Empoderme, where we provide education, job skills training, and counseling to 25 survivors.
We have been able to assist with repatriation support for 10 women this year, enabling them to return home from exploitative situations in Peru, Spain, the Dominican Republic, Mexico & Suriname. Beyond plane tickets, these women receive counseling from our psychologist, a stipend to support their immediate and basic needs upon arrival, and vocational training, if desired.
Some of these women choose to return to their home communities, yet are still in need of ongoing case management, counseling, and vocational training, which our team is able to provide as requested. Recently we were able to support a Venezuelan survivor with baby items she needed after becoming a new mother this past April and assist another survivor with improving the home where she is now living with her grandmother.
A RECENT SURVIVOR STORY
We would like to introduce you to Grace*, a Freedom Home resident whom Pulpit Rock is currently helping to pursue healing and a hopeful future:
Grace (*not her real name) is 19 years old. She was trafficked by a friend when she was just 16 and taken to work in a large bar where she was forced to have sex with customers both on and offsite. She was exploited by multiple traffickers, moved from place to place, and became addicted to drugs.
Grace was finally freed as a result of a joint operation between The Exodus Road, a partner NGO (AAT), and Thai Anti-Trafficking police. The Department of Social Welfare then referred her to Freedom Home when they saw that Grace could not return home and needed a long-term recovery program with skills-building opportunities to ensure her future. Grace was still addicted to drugs when she arrived at Freedom Home. Detoxification was a long journey for her, but she did it! Her trafficking situation resulted in a lot of trauma and it took Freedom Home staff months to build enough trust for Grace to put aside her denial and begin processing her emotions. Although she voluntarily joined the program, there were many times during the first 3 months that she wanted to leave because she received a lot of pressure from her family. She wanted to return to sex work because of the high pay and because of her addictions.
However, we have seen Grace make incredible progress since she first began the Freedom Home program. She is currently attending two schools at the same time; non-formal education for secondary school and vocational training for an internship in cooking. Her dream is to someday open a restaurant in her hometown.
Grace is a good big sister to the other girls in the house. She gets along well and is also an encouragement to others, showing a strong commitment to her hopeful future. We are so proud of her and truly grateful we can support Grace along her road to healing because of the Smith’s generosity!
A STORY OF COMPASSIONATE CARE FROM COLOMBIA
Alma* carefully filled two mugs with chocolate. Opening two cards she’d intentionally chosen, The Exodus Road’s social worker and psychologist filled them with soothing words of comfort. She folded the pajamas and soft blankets she’d picked out, the cloth lightweight to reflect the warm Latin American climate. Finally, Alma picked out two perfect roses.
Alma was getting ready to meet two young women she’d been in contact with for weeks, alongside fellow team members at The Exodus Road. Coral* and Georgia* were both about 20 years old, and they were far from home. When they accepted jobs in another country as bartenders, they never dreamed that they’d end up being trafficked for sex instead. Physically and emotionally abused so they’d stay in line, the girls felt hopeless.
The situation was especially crushing for Georgia, who had a young child that she’d left at home in her mother’s care. Georgia begged her traffickers to be allowed to call her mother to speak to her son, even briefly. Finally, they agreed.
When Georgia’s mother understood what was happening, she immediately went to the authorities. Law enforcement called on The Exodus Road’s Latin American team to help Georgia and Coral.
Our team secretly offered the young women ways to escape. Despite the abuse they’d suffered, Coral and Georgia courageously followed our instructions and ran away. Immediately, our team provided them with a place to stay and transportation home.
Alma was there at the airport to meet Georgia and Coral. She took them to their hotel room, with the gifts and notes waiting for them.
Overwhelmed by the magnitude of what they’d suffered and the relief of being safe and cared for, the survivors wept as Alma hugged them.
Although the tactical part of investigation and intervention is essential in fighting human trafficking, Alma possesses a force that’s just as important: compassion. Coral and Georgia have endured terrible trauma, and their recovery process will be a long one. But it has begun with the experience of care that you have made possible as part of The Exodus Road’s community.
THANK YOU!
We are deeply grateful for the support of Pulpit Rock Church. Your partnership on the ground in both Thailand and Latin America is having a significant impact on survivors and the community. Feel free to share this report directly with all elders, staff, and key donors, but please do not publish it online. Social media posts will be forthcoming separately.
