Merced nonprofit given $20,000 to fight human trafficking

The Valley Crisis Center, which advocates for victims of sexual and domestic violence, recently received a $20,000 grant to develop a plan to assist victims of human trafficking.

The grant comes to the center from the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund, which is supported by Sierra Health Foundation Center for Health Program Management, the California Endowment and the Rosenberg Foundation.

Advocates for victims and the Merced County Health Department have pushed for the fight against prostitution in the county to change so that those forced to sell their bodies are seen as victims, rather than criminals. Agencies statewide are moving in that direction.

To that end, Valley Crisis Center applied for a grant to improve services that aid victims of human trafficking, said Meghan Kehoe, the center’s program director.

The center saw the beginning of that yearlong funding on March 1. Kehoe said it’s the first funding the center has ever received aimed specifically at human trafficking. “We have been serving victims of sexual violence since we opened, but this is a very specific subset of sexual violence,” she said. “We want to make sure we do it in the best way we can.”

She said the money should allow the center’s staff to be trained in helping victims and add services that have been successful for advocates from other regions.

According to studies from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as many as 325,000 children in the U.S., Canada and Mexico are at risk each year of becoming victims of sexual exploitation. It’s estimated that 30 percent of shelter youths and 70 percent of street youths are victims of sexual exploitation. Those children may be coerced into prostitution in exchange for food, shelter or drugs.

Local officials have said there are no numbers on how many people are victims of trafficking locally, because the latest approach is still new.

Sierra Health Foundation, which manages the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund, is a private philanthropic organization focused on efforts to improve health and quality of life. It has been around for about three decades in Northern California. Its efforts in the Valley are about a year old, said Manuel Alvarado, the community relations manager for Sierra.

“Our foundation board of directors decided to venture into the San Joaquin Valley because of the special needs of the population,” he said.

Sierra officials said other Merced-based organizations were recently awarded grant money. Golden Valley Health Centers received $10,000 for a program that promotes health for farmworkers. United Way of Merced County’s wellness program for Hmong got $15,000.

A Merced Organizing Project effort to promote changes in policies that affect underprivileged young people also received $20,000.

For more on Sierra, go to www.sierrahealth.org.

This story was originally published March 13, 2015 at 12:30 PM with the headline "Merced nonprofit given $20,000 to fight human trafficking."