A drop-in center is on the way to Downtown where child sex trafficking victims can find immediate safety, food, and mental health care while getting connected to resources and permanent housing.

“A drop-in center is designed to be a welcoming place where the kids can come in and feel safe. These kids have been lied to. They do not trust adults. They do not trust institutions. And so our goal with this drop-in center is to build trust and relationship that when they feel safe, that we could, when they request, find a safe place for them,” explained Olive Crest CEO Donald Verleur at a press conference on Wednesday, May 14.

A survivor of sex trafficking, Lily, spoke at the press conference about her own experience, saying she is living proof healing is possible. She found help at a drop-in center run by a different non-profit before being served by Olive Crest.

“When I got out of sex trafficking while in foster care, I was exhausted— physically, emotionally and spiritually. I didn’t know who I was outside of survival, and I didn’t know if there was a future for someone like me. But Olive Crest showed me something I didn’t have before. It was hope. They didn’t just offer resources, they offered belief. They saw a future for me when I couldn’t see it for myself,” Lily said.

Olive Crest, a West Coast nonprofit founded in 1973, is dedicated to preventing child abuse and strengthening families in crisis. “Olive Crest, in its 50 years of serving children and families, has found about 20% of those kids have been involved in human trafficking, and about 50% have been asked. But we also say 100% are at high risk,” Verleur said. He believes San Diego is a hot spot due to its numerous hotels and vacation rentals as well as ports of entry.

Olive Crest already has apartments in San Diego available for 16-18 year olds wishing to escape sexual exploitation and specially-vetted foster families in the area for children younger than that. Minors in need of more structured care can also be sent to its Hope Refuge Campus in Santa Barbara.

Filling a gap in San Diego’s child trafficking response

The connection to housing fills a gap in San Diego’s child trafficking response, according to Alfredo Guardado, director of the County’s Department of Child and Family Well-being. Plus, it is Olive Crest’s third such drop-in center opened since January in Southern California, with a region-wide network planned. Guardado said since human trafficking does not follow county lines, deploying resources regionally so kids being moved around can access a familiar organization is helpful.

The drop-in center includes a cafe, therapy room, nap area, computers, and places to hang out. The location is not public, with awareness, referrals and word-of-mouth between victims enough to bring newcomers in. At its other Southern California drop-in centers, sometimes even pimps are the ones to drop off girls, knowing they will have food and medical care to recover before going back out.

Tina Chang, Olive Crest’s regional program director, said a girl was dropped off by her exploiter for three months, always leaving as soon as he texted her before she decided to ask the staff to get her out. That slow process of building a relationship can be agonizing, but is a way to let children know it is a safe, judgment-free space where they have autonomy.

San Diego County Chief Deputy District Attorney Tracy Prior said at the press conference, “[Olive Crest’s] work is critical in combating child sex abuse. Child trafficking victims cannot get safe if they are unwelcomed, unhoused and unsupported…. This center takes care of all three.”

Many victims are runaways, in foster care, or homeless. Exploiters can take advantage of their horrific circumstances, offering a place to stay. A safe housing option can free children driven by desperation into the control of abusers.

Prior shared current trends in San Diego’s human trafficking issue, including that victims are getting younger since the pandemic when many vulnerable children lost contact with trusted adults outside of families. Instead of primarily 16 to 18 year olds, children as young as 13 are reaching her case load. She also acknowledged that sex trafficking is under reported, particularly among boys.

While people tend to assume the border makes San Diego a hot spot, Special Agent Geanie Franco, who leads the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, said most of the minors recovered by the task force are actually local. They are also almost exclusively sex trafficked, not used for labor trafficking. However, she acknowledged cross-border trafficked children may be more underground.

“This is important because we need more resources here in San Diego for all of the minors that we recover. Since January of this year, we’re already at 29 minors. Last year it was 47 [total] so that’s not a good place to be,” Franco said.

The task force, made up of local, state and regional law enforcement agencies, is one of Olive Crest’s partners in the center. The center is funded by public and private donations, as well as a $10 million grant from the state. One of those private supporters is Padres pitcher Jason Adam, who first learned about Olive Crest at a church service last year and has helped the organization with his wife since.

“When you hear that in such a beautiful city, where everyone should be really living the dream, … that there’s tons of kids being exploited sexually at age 13, it can be paralyzing,” Adam said at the press conference. “I just think it’s devastating. It feels paralyzing to me often to think about these kids out there, but there’s hope.”

The drop-in center is slated to open in June with mental health care workers and staff promising to create a judgment-free zone for kids to receive protection, care and resources when they are ready.

Top caption: (From l to r) San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force Commander/California Department of Justice Special Agent in Charge Geanie Franco, director of the County’s Child and Family Well-being department Alfredo Guardado, San Diego County Chief Deputy District Attorney Tracy Prior, Padres pitcher Jason Adam, and child sex trafficking survivor Lily speak at a press conference inside the drop-in center on Wednesday, May 14. (Photos by Drew Sitton)