Providence, RI— On Friday, September 20th, the Department of Justice announced that they’ll be awarding Sojourner House a three-year, $960,123 total grant as part of their 2024 OVC FY24 Anti-Trafficking Housing Assistance Program. The purpose of this program is to develop, expand, and/or strengthen funded organizations so they can provide housing and associated supportive services to victims of human trafficking. Only 15 organizations across the nation received these grants, with Sojourner House being the only awardee in the state of Rhode Island.
This funding will support Sojourner House’s THEIA Program (Trafficking, Housing, Empowerment, Immigration, and Advocacy), and, more specifically, allow them to continue providing transitional housing, rental assistance, and short-term crisis housing to victims of trafficking.
“Obtaining and maintaining safe, independent housing is a critical element of healing and self-determination for victims of trafficking – but it is also the biggest challenge most of them face,” said Vanessa Volz, President and CEO of Sojourner House. “Rhode Island has a very serious lack of affordable housing. Because of this, many victims of abuse in our community are put in impossible situations where they must decide between stable housing or freedom from violence.”
“At Sojourner House, we’re doing all we can to ease this burden for our clients and ensure that housing is never a barrier to safety,” Volz continued. “This funding will be instrumental in ensuring the sustainability of continued housing options for victims of human trafficking, and we’re extremely grateful to have the support of the Office for Victims of Crime.”
Sojourner House began offering programming specifically for victims of trafficking in 2016, when they established the THEIA Program and launched the state’s first (and still the only) shelter for victims of human trafficking. They were already serving these victims in many of their programs, but recognized that they had a unique set of complex needs that weren’t being met through generalized services.
In 2020, due to new OVC funding, THEIA expanded to include a specialized transitional housing program. In 2022, thanks once more to OVC funding, THEIA was able to start providing a broader range and greater intensity of community based trauma-informed direct services to their clients.
In Sojourner House’s most recent fiscal year (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024), they served 58 victims of labor trafficking and 65 victims of sex trafficking. The THEIA team provided clients with 2,058 bed nights in shelter and 5,312 bed nights in transitional housing.
“To better support victims of trafficking, we must invest in proven strategies and effective supports that help survivors. A critical first step is ensuring they and their families have a safe, healthy place to call home with a supportive community around them,” said U.S. Senator Jack Reed, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This federal funding for Sojourner House will connect victims of trafficking with critical services and access to housing to help set them on a path to safety and healing.”
This new funding will allow the agency to expand and strengthen THEIA’s existing transitional housing and rental assistance programs, which are meant to serve as bridges to emotional and economic stability.