Twenty Years of Fighting for Freedom

Twenty Years of Fighting for Freedom

by | Jan 16, 2025 | Uncategorized

A lot can happen in twenty years.

Two decades ago this month, George W. Bush was inagurated into his second term as President of the United States. The iPhone hadn’t been released yet. No one had ever heard of Spotify, TikTok, or Hulu. Netflix still mailed DVDs so you could watch your favorite movies.

Yes, a lot can happend in twenty years.

The Beginning: A Collaborative Response

In January of 2005, United Against Human Trafficking did not exist.

Awareness about the issue of human trafficking was only beginning to emerge. It was named a federal crime in 2000, with Texas introducing a state statute against it in 2003. As the necessity for awareness and prevention programs as well as survivor services came to the forefront locally, a handful of passionate people gathered in April 2005 to discuss the urgent need for a coordinated, collaborative response to the issue of human trafficking in Houston, Texas.

Out of that meeting, the Houston Rescue & Restore Coalition was born. This initial discussion was the culmination of multiple stakeholders recognizing a need and feeling a strong desire to address it. Rather than tackle such a complex problem independently, they decided to lock arms and launch an effort together.

Evolution Into United Against Human Trafficking

Over the years, that coalition evolved into what we now know as United Against Human Trafficking. In addition to our original work around coalition building, we have led the way for two decades in education, awareness, prevention, and client services.

But the heart of our work remains the same: collaboration. We join forces with other passionate organizations, businesses, and individuals so that all may live free.

A Mission That Has Not Changed

One thing has not changed in twenty years:

We still fight so all may live free.

And we all fight so all may live free. Over the years, hundreds of people and agencies have joined us in this fight. New organizations were launched. The coalition grew and expanded in advocacy, survivor services, policy, and economic empowerment.

UAHT not only grew as a coalition builder but as an independent agency as well.

Reflecting on Our Journey & Shaping the Future

As we reach this milestone anniversary, it is the perfect time to reflect on how far we have come and the impact we have made together. Over the years, our dedication to collaboration and innovation has driven us to achieve incredible results.

Milestones of Our 20-Year Journey

In the past twenty years, we are proud to have achieved the following milestones:

  • Grown from a couple of volunteer leaders to an agency with a staff of over 20 people in two states.
  • Launched and led the Houston Coalition, helped lead our local law enforcement task force summit, and worked to forge new coordinated responses in Fort Bend County.
  • Redoubled the focus and importance of survivor-centered, trauma-informed, culturally competent programming across the anti-trafficking movement.
  • Begun operations in Southwest Louisiana, including establishing the Southwest Louisiana Coalition and launching programs in the region.
  • Purchased a client services building in Houston’s East End and started a housing program for foreign national survivors of trafficking.
  • Assumed operation of A 2nd Cup, a beloved coffee shop that was a trusted partner in the fight against human trafficking.

And we did all this together.

Reflecting on the Past, Embracing the Future

As we celebrate our 20th year as an agency, we know we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. In the year ahead, while celebrating the work that has been done, we are also looking forward to the future.

How can the movement continue to grow and evolve?

We know that what brought us here won’t get us there. In our 20th year, we seek not only to reflect but to envision a bright future for the anti-trafficking movement in greater Houston, Southwest Louisiana, and new regions where we will seek to add value and make an impact.

A lot can change in twenty years. But one thing will never change.

As we have for two decades, we will position ourselves to bring people together so that all may live free.

Courage to Love

Courage to Love

by | Jul 13, 2023 | Uncategorized

United Against Human Trafficking proudly stands with our partners in Houston to establish justice for our clients – regardless of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity, religion, or ability. We are committed to cultivating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community and energized by growth in this movement to that end in recent years.

As a nonprofit leading coalition work in Houston, Texas and Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, we are on the front lines of uniting people around a shared mission. This mission is not defined by a singular perspective, but a communal vision to end human trafficking. As an independent agency doing direct client services, we also know that our focus must be what is in the best interests of the client.

In June, the Freedom Church Alliance published a communication which contrasted courage and compromise using language we felt undermined the spirit of our movement in Houston.

At UAHT, we believe compassion and love – meeting a client where they are, regardless of where they are – is always in the best interests of the client. We affirm people of all faiths joining in this work, but call on our partners to recognize that only a trauma-informed, survivor-centered approach will move the needle in a client’s life.

We believe agencies informed by a Christian-centered mission can recognize that this belief – meeting people where they are, meeting their immediate needs, interacting with empathy considering experienced trauma – is not a compromise of one’s faith, but a right, just, and valid expression of that faith. Sometimes the courage FCA called us in to in their blog is found by keeping our personal preferences personal in order to help someone else. Said differently, courage can be found in not drawing a line in the sand because we are prioritizing helping someone else rather than fulfilling our own felt need to defend a religious belief.

When we serve trans clients, gay clients, or clients that have had an abortion with no strings attached we are doing the work we are called to do – whether we’re Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, or of another/no faith. This is true because the work is work in service to our clients, not in service to one’s individual faith.

Faith makes a great motivation in serving survivors of human trafficking but falls short of being a holistic strategy. We must employ the best practices of social work, and this includes not discriminating or seeking to change a client’s beliefs or identity. Instead, we do our best work when we honor their perspectives.

United Against Human Trafficking – as an independent agency nearly two decades old, serving as coalition leaders since 2007 – will continue to urge the movement forward toward greater inclusion. This is because we feel that love and compassion — regardless of individual preferences — is not compromise, it is courage.

Indeed, it’s the most sacred work of all.