UWF psychology students furnish home for victims of sex trafficking

University of West Florida psychology students organized a supply drive during the spring term to help furnish Set Free Refuge, a transitional living home in south Santa Rosa County for young female victims of sex trafficking who are aging out of foster care.

The endeavor was the result of a service learning project from Professor Jane Halonen’s Positive Psychology course. 

The service project was part of a lesson on positive psychology, a relatively new specialty in psychology that explores the science of what makes people happy.  

“One of the principles that generates happiness is helping people, so I provide a major project option for students to conduct a service learning project with the target population of their choice,” said Halonen. 

Students were required to research the scope of the problem facing their target population, conduct the service project and present a formal summary of their efforts to the class. They also had to demonstrate strong teamwork skills to manage the complexity of their chosen projects.

Five students, Renee Shomaker, Raleigh Gharbi, Mary Hunt, Savannah Burtschell and Dalia Fort-Frazee, teamed together to help Set Free Refuge.

Set Free Refuge provides young women who are aging out of foster care transitional housing for up to one year in a safe, home-like environment. Set Free Refuge can house up to three women at a time and helps stabilize and equip sex trafficking survivors so they can plan their next steps toward a normal life. It is the only home of its kind in Northwest Florida that specifically provides care to child victims who are aging out of foster care.

“Through the process of our research, we were really surprised by how common sex trafficking is and that no one really knows about it,” said Shomaker. “One thing that is sad and we really took to heart is that often families are trafficking their kids.”

Set Free Refuge executive director Marcie Rey Landreth said sex trafficking doesn’t always involve the exchange of money.

“Many of these children, who live right here in Northwest Florida, are trafficked for sex by family members in exchange for things like drugs, transportation, food or to pay bills,” said Landreth. “The fact that they are trafficked as children makes them much more vulnerable to be trafficked as adults.”

That’s where the Refuge steps in to bridge the gap from foster care to independent living in adulthood.

The student team collected furniture, household items and clothing from friends, neighbors, employers and other community contacts and delivered the donations to the home.

Landreth said, “The house had nothing and the students were instrumental in bringing in the items needed to be able to get these young ladies in the home.”

“The team pulled off a miracle by completing their very ambitious project in just two weeks,” said Halonen. “They are diverse women from different backgrounds, but they managed to develop a strong commitment to the project and each other. I believe they will have some enduring friendships that will grow out of their experience. They were quite impressive.”

Hunt believes UWF students can make a big impact in the community. She said, “If you have something unique to offer, you do not always need something in return. Simply helping someone else can be enough reward in itself.”

For more information about UWF’s Department of Psychology, visit uwf.edu/psychology. To learn more about Set Free Refuge, visit setfreerefuge.org.