Established in 2018, Survivor Ventures emerged out of a pursuit to fill the enormous gap in economic opportunity for survivors of human trafficking.  We are currently operational in Virginia and Delaware and actively looking for partnerships to expand to other states.

 

We believe economic empowerment is the key to releasing survivors from "the life" and hypothesize that a trauma-informed approach to gainful employment may be the most critical service required to reduce recidivism rates, particularly for a population who only know "work" as a painful and traumatic experience.

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Often, victims are arrested for their role as victim in the trafficking situation. Upon rescue or escape or, more frequently, release from jail, survivors of human trafficking attempt to find services to help them get back on their feet. It is our experience that their first and most critical need is a job. 

 

Survivors want to work. They want to provide for their children. 

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Unfortunately, many states have not enacted effective and/or accessible criminal record relief legislation for trafficking survivors. Anti-human trafficking service providers do their best to help survivors find employment; but, due to survivors criminal records, they can only get minimum wage jobs that rarely provide 40 hours a week, hardly enough to make ends meet.

 

 Once their shelter stays and rental assistance ends, they cycle back to homelessness and other positions of vulnerability that led to the trafficking situation in the first place.

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It's our mission to break this cycle through the various programs
we provide to help survivors gain economic empowerment. 

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