Resource center for human trafficking victims opens its doors in downtown Sacramento
SACRAMENTO — January is human trafficking awareness month, and there's a new place in Sacramento where survivors can get help.
It's called The Table and it officially opened its doors in downtown Sacramento on Wednesday, offering a seat to any human trafficking victim looking for a way out.
"You know, I walked right outside of this building in 2012," said Kristi Merril, a survivor leadership advocate at The Table.
Merrill speaks candidly about her past. At the age of 25, she was considered a missing person and trafficked for five months in Sacramento before she was found.
"And I didn't know of any services," Merril said. "I felt like that was going to be my life. There wasn't a place like this that I felt that I could go to."
Merril has turned her life around. Today she's helping other survivors and finding purpose in life.
"For me, it helps me in my own healing journey to be able to share my life experiences to instill that hope," Merril said.
Ashlie Bryant is the CEO, president, and co-founder of 3Strands Global Foundation.
The non-profit is one of several behind the new 1,200-square-foot center that is offering wraparound services.
"So this empowerment center is a safe place that we have designed with resources to meet the basic needs of our clients but also to be able to empower them to a sustainable job or pathway to education," Bryant said.
Those services include childcare, mental health support and financial literacy. It offers a food pantry, kitchen access, a laundry room, and showers at no cost to any victim searching for a pathway to a new life.
"Everybody is welcomed around the table, everybody has a seat at the table," Bryant said.
Before Wednesday's grand opening, all of their services were being done in remote locations and in coffee shops.
So now with their new facility on H Street, their ongoing services will be conducted in person and in a safe place.
