Why Safe Housing and Support Matter: The Physical Needs of Trafficking Survivors.

How Haven Homes of Detroit is helping survivors rebuild their life,

reengage their dreams, and rediscover their hope.

Survivors of human trafficking enter a new phase of survival the moment they leave their trafficking situation. Leaving does not mean life instantly stabilizes. In reality, many women step into freedom without housing, income, support, or a clear path forward. As Oriel Eksi, Senior Partner at the Woolf Group and a lived-experience leader, shared her own story: “There was a lack of safe housing- there was no place to go and no services. It was too rural.” Her story reflects what thousands of survivors face every day: freedom without safety or stability.

A Haven Homes of Detroit graduate says, “Survivors in trafficking don't get a chance to experience what [the rest of the world experiences]: that's going home, opening your door and you're safe, opening the fridge and finding food, even making a decision on your own, It's always fight mode [when you're being trafficked]. Haven Homes of Detroit (HHD) offers that hope that things can be different.”

To understand how survivors truly heal, it’s essential to look at what they physically need the moment their journey toward restoration begins.

What Do Trafficking Survivors Need to Heal?

Healing extends far beyond medical care. According to the 2023 Polaris national survivor study, survivors need trauma-informed mental and behavioral health services, financial rebuilding support, community connection, documentation recovery, and help managing long-term physical health impacts. These needs overlap and often become overwhelming to navigate alone.

HHD helps bridge this gap. Since June 2023, HHD has provided women with rent-free housing for 18–24 months and comprehensive, wraparound support designed to rebuild dignity and create independence.

Rebuilding: What Starting Over Really Looks Like

For many survivors, trafficking often leaves them with significant debt or without access to documents required to apply for jobs, benefits, or housing.

While immediate medical concerns are typically addressed before a survivor enters a transitional living opportunity like HHD, long-term rebuilding is just beginning. Physical needs include not only health care but also safe housing, financial stability, and ongoing trauma support. The goal is more than survival, it’s helping each woman rediscover joy, purpose, and hope for her future.

Safe Housing

Without safe, stable housing, recovery becomes nearly impossible. Studies estimate that up to 80% of survivors face a high risk of being re-trafficked if they cannot secure safe housing soon after leaving. Housing is the foundation for emotional and physical recovery.

It’s critically important that safe housing is intentionally calm and supportive. For many women, it is the first place in years where they feel physically safe and emotionally grounded. A stable home allows women to rest, establish routines, and confidently begin planning for the future.

A safe home is also always substance-free for survivors. Many women leaving trafficking have to navigate the impact of substance use because traffickers often use drugs as a tool of control and dependency. Polaris reports that addiction is one of the most powerful mechanisms traffickers use to coerce and exploit victims.

This means that healing isn't just about leaving the trafficking situation, it's about having safe housing, stability, and steady support for sobirety as part of a long-term healing journey. Programs that understand this intersection are better equipped to offer the kind of care survivors truly need.

At HHD, we support regular attendance at recovery meetings, support women in finding a sponsor, and have sobirety support incorporated into our program.

Trauma Recovery: Caring for the Body and Mind

A common question people ask is:“What mental health support do trafficking survivors need?”

Trauma from sex trafficking affects every aspect of a woman’s body. Survivors often experience complex PTSD, anxiety, depression, dissociation, sleep disturbances, and fear around touch or isolation. Trauma can also show up physically through chronic pain, digestive issues, migraines, or other long-term health concerns.

Survivors at HHD benefit from trauma-informed therapy, survivor mentorship, group support, and spiritual or faith-based care when desired. Equally important is emotional consistency; spaces where survivors aren’t pressured to share more than they’re ready to. Healing requires time, trust, and people who show up steadily.

Financial Stability

Financial stability is one of the strongest predictors of long-term success. Yet Polaris reports that many survivors live in or near poverty even after leaving their trafficking situation. Some are employed but still unable to meet basic needs.

Within HHD women receive education support, career development training, and essential job-readiness tools. Financial literacy classes empower them to manage money confidently, while legal support helps navigate identity recovery, criminal record relief, custody issues, or other barriers rooted in their trafficking experience. Additionally, we help survivors restore their credit so they can qualify for housing or car loans. This practical support restores financial footing and helps eliminate vulnerabilities that traffickers often exploited.

Holistic Care

Physical healing cannot be separated from emotional or spiritual restoration. HHD partners with trusted medical providers, licensed counselors, and community organizations across Detroit to meet each woman’s holistic needs. This approach helps survivors regain bodily autonomy, rebuild confidence, and develop healthy rhythms that support long-term stability. A holistic path to healing also makes space for joy. Many women begin to rediscover passions, hobbies, faith, and community—pieces of life they once believed were lost forever.

Community Support

People often ask:“How can communities support survivors after trafficking?”

Survivors need more than services, they need people. They need; Compassionate listeners, steady mentors, encouraging faith communities, supportive medical providers, outreach teams, and volunteers who show up consistently and without judgment. Healing is communal. No survivor heals alone, and no survivor should ever have to. Freedom is the beginning, but community makes restoration possible.

“Community is super important. It gives back a voice and a sense of belonging, because

trafficking is such an isolating experience.” – Oriel Eksi, Senior Partner at the Woolf Group and lived-experience leader

About Haven Homes of Detroit

HHD provides rent-free transitional housing and wraparound support for survivors of sex trafficking or commercial exploitation in Detroit, creating a safe environment where women can rebuild their lives with dignity, stability, and hope.

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Sources:

Polaris. (2023). In harm’s way: How systems fail human trafficking survivors — Survey results from the first national survivor study. Polaris.

Polaris Project. (2017, July 1). Human trafficking and the opioid crisis. Polaris. https://polarisproject.org/resources/human-trafficking-and-the-opioid-crisis/

All quotes used with permission; we thank Oriel and the another survivor for contributing to this piece.