'It means life': Jacksonville human trafficking survivor begins anew in Habitat house
Habitat for Humanity Jacksonville's Women Build program empowers women in home constriction and ownership. Shirley Turner is the latest beneficiary. Shirley Turner, a 61-year-old mother and grandmother, was a human trafficking survivor and now works at Rethreaded, a Jacksonville nonprofit that provides jobs for human trafficking survivors. She was the 2024 recipient of Habitat for Humanity's Women Build program, which promotes women participating in affordable home construction and ownership. Partnering with HabiJax on the Turner project was Arize Together, a local nonprofit working to break the cycle of sexual exploitation. Turner's transformation came after a divorce led to alcohol and drugs, homelessness and human trafficking. She had been sober for five years when she came to Rethreadsed five years ago. HabJax CEO Monte Walker said that an affordable home can significantly increase the cost of education, child care and health care.
Опубликовано : 10 месяцев назад от Beth Reese Cravey, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union в Lifestyle General
But Turner escaped and rebuilt her life. Now a 61-year-old mother and grandmother, she works at Rethreaded, a Jacksonville nonprofit that provides jobs for human trafficking survivors. And on May 31, she moved into a new Habitat for Humanity home that has many meanings for her.
"Legacy. Hope. It started with forgiveness. It means life. And a good one," she said. "To know my daughter and grandkids will always have a safe place to be. That gives me comfort for them to know my door is always open no matter what."
Habitat for Humanity of Jacksonville, or HabiJax, is the local chapter of the international nonprofit homebuilder. Turner was the 2024 recipient of the organization's Women Build program that promotes women participating in affordable home construction and ownership. Partnering with HabiJax on the Turner project was Arize Together, a local nonprofit working to break the cycle of sexual exploitation.
"She has worked hard and demonstrated courage in her own journey of healing," Monte Walker, HabiJax CEO, said of Turner. "Shirley’s consistent message to others is not, 'look what I did' but rather 'look what we can do.' She … uses her experiences and faith to encourage others."
For Turner, a divorce led to alcohol and drugs, homelessness and human trafficking, which is "the use of force, fraud or coercion to perform a sexual act for profit," according to Rethreaded. She was in her 30s.
"[I] went down a dark road I couldn’t see or stop," she said.
Ultimately, she saved herself. She had been sober for five years when she came to Rethreaded five years ago. "It’s opened my heart in a new direction. … It’s the ability to help other women," she said.
Recognizing that she deserved a home of her own took time. Watching a community help build her house was "amazing," she said. "People were here to help me. It's my responsibility to be able to give back … to share with the next homeowner."
HabiJax has completed 10 Women Build houses since 2003 for struggling, female-headed households.
"An affordable home can change the trajectory of these households immediately and over the long haul," Walker said. "Families are free to spend more on education, child care and health care."
The 2024 Women Build specifically "focused on women building new lives beyond the vulnerabilities that led to their being exploited," he said. "We’ve come alongside other organizations to better serve new segments of our community. The need for housing is high and the costs of housing are high, but we keep challenging our community that wringing our hands will never accomplish what joining hands and getting to work will."
HabiJax recently launched an "on-demand" homeownership information session on its website: habijax.org/own. About 80% of the 100 people who completed the session in the first week were women, with most of them raising children, according to the nonprofit.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Habitat for Humanity dedicates home to human trafficking survivor
Темы: Crime, Kidnapping, Human Trafficking, Sexual Exploitation