ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County commissioners are moving forward with a program that would provide short-term shelter for human trafficking victims.
On Tuesday, commissioners unanimously agreed to start negotiations with Aspire Health Partners to oversee the program.
It would provide crisis intervention services in a county-owned facility that is meant to meet the basic needs of trafficking victims, provide a transitional living environment, and serve as the point of entry for community services.
According to Mikala Moffit, who chairs Central Florida’s Human Trafficking Task Force, there are currently three programs providing about 30 beds for adult trafficking victims in the region. But the need runs deep.
A state-commissioned University of South Florida report estimated there were over 700 thousand trafficking victims in 2024 alone.
The county’s new program is meant to help victims rebuild and leave what can be a vicious cycle.
“There is a great need. And there’s not enough beds at all. Not even just here in our community, statewide, and nationwide,” said Tomas Lares, who co-founded the Central Florida Human Trafficking Task Force back in 2007 and is the president of the non-profit United Abolitionists.
Lares says for years, Central Florida has worked to slowly increase the number of safe homes for trafficking victims and increase awareness through regional partnerships.
The state ranks third for the number of National Human Trafficking Hotline Calls and Lares said the state’s particularly vulnerable for trafficking.
“I’ve always said that Florida is really the perfect storm for human trafficking,” said Lares, “Our community is very unique and vulnerable.”
According to the Florida Sheriff’s Association, several factors can increase vulnerability to human trafficking in Florida. “These include large tourism, agriculture, construction, and entertainment industries that rely on seasonal or transient workers; international airports and seaports that connect the state to global markets and migration routes; and major sporting events and entertainment venues that draw visitors from across the United States and around the world.”
In Orange County, Samaritan Village has been working with trafficking victims for more than 15 years.
The non-profit helps 15 woman a year by placing them in three different supported housing programs eventually helping them transition to independence.
“We help them to understand what is safe what is not safe,” said Dr. Danielle Pierson, Executive Director, Samaritan Village. “We build healthy community around them to help them to know that there are places and spaces that they can go. But more than anything, I think the biggest thing, is the recovery of the mind.”
Pierson applauded the action of Orange County Commissioners, investing to support trafficking victims, adding that a tremendous need still exists across the state.
The contract advanced by commissioners with Aspire Health Partners still needs to come back for final approval, but would give Aspire Health Partners 3.75 million dollars to run the shelter program for five years.
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