MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – Friday morning, at their quarterly meeting, the Upper Peninsula Human Trafficking Task Force (UPHTTF) announced the opening of a new facility for human trafficking survivors called Sacred Beginnings U.P.
The UPHTTF works within all 15 counties of the U.P. to locate, investigate, and stop human trafficking. The UPHTTF also works alongside men, women, and children who have escaped from trafficking.
Sacred Beginnings, an organization based out of Grand Rapids, and the UPHTTF have worked together to bring a transitional home and resources to these survivors. This home will be a living facility where survivors can stay for up to 2 years, and learn relevant skills that can be used in their new life.
“If we don’t provide a safe transitional home, they end up going back into this very dangerous life,” says Stephanie Graef, President of UPHTTF. “It was never not going to be a part of our mission, it just was going to take time.”
The UPHTTF is currently looking for land that they can build or rebuild on for the location of Sacred Beginnings U.P., and welcome community support in building this new transitional home.
