KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A first-of-its-kind help center for survivors of human trafficking is set to open in Knoxville.
The Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking reports 184 referrals were made this year to serve human trafficking survivors in Knoxville.
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That includes 22 children.
The building is a work in progress, but Katie Boggs knows her work isn't in vain.
Boggs and her non-profit 'Raising A Voice' are working to give the building on East Magnolia Avenue in East Knoxville new life.
"We saw it as what we hope will be the first redemptive story in the place," Boggs said.
Raising A Voice is opening a drop-in center for survivors of human trafficking.
"We'll get a fridge and a microwave, couches out, books, bible studies, just anything where it's a safe quiet place," Boggs explained.
They'll offer legal help, help finding a job, or parenting classes.
"All of the women that we will be serving basically will not be considered in trafficking numbers so far, because they are considered street prostitutes, or women working at these hourly motels around us, or out of their home," Boggs said.
She said the women often meet a man who promises to take care of their needs.
"They go with him and live with him or you know, work for him, whatever it is," Boggs said. "That is a trafficking situation, but they don't realize it because they've been sexually abused for 10 years prior to that. It's just a part of their life at that point."
She hopes the center will transform the community.
"We just want to build relationships and have people know that when they come in here, they're receiving safe and respectable care, that we have 100 percent respect for them as a human, that what's going on in their life does not dictate how we treat them here," Boggs said.
Boggs said the center will open January 6th.
If you want to help, you can donate on the Raising A Voice website.