There are many organizations set up to rescue victims of human trafficking, but one such leader says she spotted a gap in care for survivors and that Christians can help fill this void to help those suffering to recover and work to re-enter society.
Britney Higgs, the CEO of the HER Campaign, has embarked on a 580-mile trek from Montana to Colorado with her family of six and pet goat, which will be a therapy animal, to raise money to expand her program that provides a safe place for survivors to rest and tools to help them through their recovery process.
“We believe that Heaven has a blueprint for how we can eradicate human trafficking, and it’s going to come from the Body of Christ. And it takes all of us — because we are one, right? — to raise up this issue,” Higgs told The Christian Post.
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Higgs began her journey on July 1 at the organization’s safe house in Billings, Montana. She plans to walk all the way to the ministry’s emergency shelter for survivors in Denver, Colorado. The goal is to raise $580,000 during the month-long walk, $1,000 for each mile.
Joining her on the journey is a goat named Freedom, along with Higgs’ husband and four children. Higgs’ husband, Sammy, who helped co-found the HER Campaign in 2016, is driving the RV where his wife and Freedom sleep after a day of walking. Three of the couple’s children are riding in the RV, while their 14-year-old son is walking with his mother.
By embarking on this fundraising walk, the ministry leaders are hoping to raise money to build an additional safe house in Nashville, Tennessee.
“When we were thinking about our third location, we were thinking about needing to raise funds, but also really raise up the Body of Christ to enter into this movement on a national scale,” Higgs told CP. “You know, there’s such a huge gap in care for survivors.”
One problem Higgs noticed with the resources offered to human trafficking victims is that some long-term programs are often not equipped to provide crisis stabilization to a survivor who has recently been freed from a trafficking situation.
Due to their trauma, survivors in these cases are often not ready to start working on the job training and skills-learning classes that long-term programs offer to trafficking victims. Often, survivors have yet to transition out of crisis mode, Higgs explained, and they can bring down others who are trying to heal, and might even relapse and re-connect with their trafficker.
One way that HER Campaign helps survivors transition from crisis mode to independence is through animal therapy. As Higgs explained, when she reaches the organization’s safe house in Denver, Freedom, her goat, will serve as a therapy animal.
“We incorporate things like gardening, animals, anything that we can,” she said. “There are a lot of studies on how just using your hands to work the ground, to till the soil — like when we do gardening or growing our own vegetables — there’s something so beautiful and therapeutic.”
“I truly believe God has created us to enjoy the process,” Higgs said.
“You’re taking care of yourself,” she added. “You’re taking care of something outside of yourself. It gives you a purpose to wake up in the morning, even if it’s just pouring out some chicken feed or bottle feeding a baby goat. Those are things that get you outside of yourself, and it’s healing.”
HER Campaign’s safe houses in Colorado and Montana allow survivors to stay with them for several weeks before helping them transition into a longer program. At the time of this interview, Higgs said the organization was planning to expand its bed capacity to 25 beds in Denver and 22 in Billings.
“And part of this fundraiser is going to help us do that,” she added.
Throughout her month-long walk, Higgs will be speaking at churches to share the ministry’s mission to help trafficking survivors recover and prosper in society.
One of the churches she and her family visited was Faith Chapel in Red Lodge, Montana. “Faith Chapel in Billings has been a huge supporter of us, and this is one of their sister churches,” she told CP. “But so far, as we’re on the route, we are looking for more churches to invite us.”
The ministry leader is urging churches throughout the country to serve as a “safe place” for trafficking victims. One way she believes congregations can do this is by educating themselves about the signs of human trafficking and how to report it to authorities.
“I think we always want our faith community to become more aware of how to spot and report human trafficking because this helps all of us get better,” Higgs stated.
“It helps our law enforcement get better, as they’re more informed about the things that are happening in our community,” she continued. “It helps us identify areas where we’re needed most and where an emergency stabilization program is required.”
Higgs also urged the public to get involved in any way that they can, stressing that “it is going to take a nationwide movement to be able to combat this issue.”
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
