Project TEAM

Project GOLD and Ark of Freedom Alliance Align to Expand Human Trafficking Services

Kristi House was awarded a major three-year grant from the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. Kristi House’s program for sex trafficked girls, Project GOLD, will partner with Ark of Freedom Alliance to expand services to males, LGBTQ+ individuals and labor victims in this new initiative called Project TEAM.

Kristi House operates Project GOLD—the first and longest-running program in large Miami-Dade County dedicated to child sex trafficking. The program is based at the Project GOLD Drop-In Center, the first such site in Florida developed exclusively for underage girls overcoming trafficking.

Established in 2018, Ark of Freedom Alliance is a not-for-profit organization addressing violence and exploitation as well as sex and labor trafficking in males and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender+ identifying youth and young adults. Their work involves outreach, case management, housing linkages, and community mobilization in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.

Together, this partnership combines the means and expertise to expand and enhance services to young trafficking victims for whom services are currently scare or highly limited. The goal is to provide the wrap-around services needed to facilitate survivors’ stability and resilience, and end their exploitation and trauma. Domestic trafficking victims up to 24 years old will be served by Project TEAM.

“This project, and our partnership with Ark of Freedom Alliance, will enable us to provide much-needed, specialized services to trafficked males and LGBTQ+ individuals in our community,” CEO Amanda Altman said. “We are very excited to be forging on this path, as we know of the tremendous needs of trafficking victims, particularly for these highly vulnerable populations.”

Click here to continuing reading.