Samaritan Village is a nonprofit in Orlando, Florida which helps those rescued from human trafficking situations resume their lives. For years, they had a single safe house, a place where survivors could be given treatment for trauma and vocational training to start a new life. “It’s really difficult for us to find our graduates safe housing,” said Dionne Coleman, executive director of Samaritan Village. “A lot of them, because of addiction and the lifestyle that was led during their trafficking experience, have felonies so that can limit them from being able to rent in very healthy and safe neighborhoods,”
Their single safe house could only house nine women, and many needed their help for as long as 18 months at a time. With over 450 referrals to their program a year, the need was dramatically underserved, and so they began fundraising last year to buy a second safe house.
“Smack dab in the middle of COVID with everything shut down we received a call from Summit Church that there was an anonymous donor that wanted to give away a house,” Coleman said.
The donors, who are remaining anonymous both for their own sake and to keep the safe house’s location private, did speak to reporters. “We had a desire for a long time to give a house away at some point in our lives. We had been praying for about 10 years to have that opportunity,” the couple said to ABC Channel 9.
The money raised so far will still go to buy another house, enabling Samaritan Village to protect more survivors than they’d expected. They hope to make a purchase in 2021, and are considering expanding their services to further help graduates of their program reintegrate.
“Thank you doesn’t really cover it,” said the first woman to occupy the donated home, who goes only by Megan. “It’s such an obvious thing to say. I don’t think they understand the impacts they’re making in our life. It’s definitely more than a home. It’s a place I can continue my journey.”