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Beaumont non-profit renovating shelter after $25K grant to help victims of sex trafficking

The home would offer minors a place to lay their head while they get the help they need.

BEAUMONT, Texas — Child sex trafficking continues to be an issue that plagues the nation, and Southeast Texas is no exception.

Easy access to I-10 and major metropolitan cities makes our region an easy target. While there are plenty of resources for sexual assault and domestic violence situations, experts said sex trafficking can often be overlooked.

Harvest House, a local non-profit, received a grant to help house children impacted by this crime.

Harvest House is renovating a home at an undisclosed location that they hope can serve child victims. The home would offer minors a place to lay their head while they get the help they need.

Since 2007, Harvest House Beaumont has been helping victims of child sex trafficking.

"For them to have a place, to begin to heal,” said Lisa Boler, CEO, and founder of Harvest House Beaumont.

Their mission has been to help the thousands of young victims across Texas.

"This is a problem that we have to take seriously because this is modern-day slavery what's going on," Jefferson County District Attorney Bob Wortham told 12News in a previous story.

Earlier this year, 12News reported on a sting operation that led to the arrest of 21 traffickers in October of 2020.

"We have people in our community that are considered professionals, that are former law enforcement officers, that have been arrested,” Wortham said previously.

Harvest House Beaumont has a plan to offer shelter to victims in need.
They recently received a $25,000 grant from State Farm, which they are using to get much-needed supplies to build a safe house. Boler said the missing piece is volunteers to help.

"What’s next, it’s like this will get us a kick start,” Boler said. “But then finding people who have the skills that will come in and say, ‘I have four hours to donate, let’s get your kitchen cabinets put in.’"

Boler said the pandemic has also caused a greater need for their services in the community.

"Previous to this year, there's been a lot of kids who have to stay home. Just the access I think abuse has gone up severely in the last two years, and statistics are showing that," Boler said.

Boler hopes the Harvest House shelter will fill a missing void that currently exists in child services.

"There is a big gap in services when it comes to, now that a child has been recovered what can we do with them, and so that’s why Harvest House wants to stand up and reach that need in the community, is now we do have a place to bring them immediately," Boler said.

If you would like to lend a hand, visit harvesthousebmt.com. Whether it's a monetary donation or if you are just someone willing to lend some time to renovate the house, they could use your help, and you could be helping someone else in the process.

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