MIDLAND, TX (KWES) - Reflection Ministries is making sure the victims of sex trafficking in the Permian Basin have somewhere to turn.
The ministry is building the first-ever long-term care facility for the victims in the area, called The Village.
The Village will be built on around 15 acres including, a firepit area, a barn for equine therapy and other similar events, and even a garden area to learn to grow food.
The Reflection Ministries got the idea for the facility after the founder of Reflection Ministries, Lisa Bownds, did research to check on the prevalence of sex trafficking in the area.
What Bownds and her co-researchers found was the area was lacking resources for adults that were involved in sex trafficking.
While there were government funded, and other private resources widely available for children, the Reflection Ministries felt adult men and women did not have adequate resources.
“There are so few resources for adults, they're options are to go to jail, stay in the life, or die. And so, being able to offer them an opportunity to have dreams again, and to be able to take care of themselves, and not have to rely on their body to be sold by others- that is exciting for us!” said Cori Armstead, executive director of Reflection Ministries.
The facility is expected to have different therapeutic resources such as a chapel, and a chicken house.
The Village will have gated entries, and the location will be kept undisclosed for security purposes.
For more information about The Village, contact Reflection Ministries at 432-247-1099, or to confidentially seek help for a human trafficking victim call 1-888-373-7888.