Sacramento area hospital, nonprofit see success in services for human trafficking victims
SACRAMENTO - A Sacramento area hospital and a nonprofit teamed up to change the way human trafficking victims are cared for. CBS13 first talked to them six years ago. Today, they continue changing lives.
"You're not alone and we're here," said Raphaella Fontenot, a crisis response coordinator at Community Against Sexual Harm (CASH)
Fontenot is turning her trauma into a personal mission.
The nonprofit, located in Oak Park, provides peer support and wrap-around services for victims just like her. She says a big part of healing is forgiveness.
"I believe it's the beginning of your journey of you feeling you knowing that you're more than enough," Fontenot said.
A recent study conducted in part by CASH found that between 2015 and 2020 more than 13,000 people were trafficked in Sacramento County and 94% were women.
According to local law enforcement, the Sacramento region is prevalent to human trafficking largely due to major freeways that run statewide and across the country.
Dr. Ron Chambers is the medical director at Dignity Health's Medical Safe Haven. All five of their clinics are staffed with physicians specifically trained to care for victims of human trafficking.
Through the years, their treatments have evolved.
"I used to put the importance on that identification and helping someone to get out into a safe house peace, and now I can tell you that I see so many more lives change when I'm able to work with those," Dr. Chambers said.
Same individuals over the course of months and years.
Dignity Health works closely with CASH and together, their support and services have resulted in dramatic success rates.
"We showed if we bring those same patients to our clinic and seen by our physicians, their success of completing the program goes up 437%," Dr. Chambers said.
Sawan Vaden is another survivor. CBS13 last spoke with her in 2017 and she is now the executive director at CASH.
Their services now expanding to include an onsite clinic in partnership with Dignity Health and the Care Foundation.
She believes the only way to find real solutions is to get to the core problem.
"Trafficking is only possible because people buy sex," Vaden said. "So as long as we refuse to address that, we are always going to forever have this as an issue."
More information about the Medical Safe Haven Program or services offered at CASH.