GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A continuation of a grant to the tune of $1.2 million is going to the Kent County Sheriff's Office and Save Haven Ministries to combat human trafficking in our community.
Survivors shared their stories on Wednesday, on a panel.
"For me, if I didn't make my quota, which meant if my trafficker/pimp. Said I had to make so much on this day, this day, and this day, and I didn't make that, I had to go steal and do something to bring that money in, because if I didn't, I was going to get severely beaten," a speaker named Leslie said.
Helping those who have been hurt by human trafficking is a central focus for the sheriff's office.
“From the Sheriff on down, we're committed to this human trafficking fight in our community. We know it's a prevalent problem, even though people might think, I live in Rockford or Byron Center Grand Rapids, this is, this isn't here. No. It's across our county,” Lieutenant Eric Brunner said.
The sheriff's office has expanded staff on the Human Trafficking Taskforce since it started in 2022. The more staff the taskforce has added, the more widespread they've realized the problem is. They've identified 90 victims this year.
“We have three full time staff. Three full time detectives that investigate sex and labor trafficking. To my knowledge, there are not other full time trafficking investigators in West Michigan," Brunner said.
The grant is all in the name of providing wrap around services to those surviving the unimaginable.
"Because we can't do this by ourselves. We need a team of allies to help us. Because guess what? For every woman we get off the street, here come two more. But every two we get off the street, here come three more, and they're getting younger and younger. We also do our street outreach, where we give them blessed facts, and we meet them right there, right in the midst of their pain, right there," Leslie said.
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