The Malouf Foundation, a Utah-based nonprofit dedicated to fighting child sexual exploitation, is planning to build a long-term, residential, therapeutic facility in Utah for young female survivors of trafficking (ages 11 to 18). The Foundation will formally announce the aftercare center at the Golf for Freedom tournament on June 8 in Park City. Funds raised during the event will benefit the organization’s new initiative.
The aftercare center will serve young female survivors (ages 11 to 18) across Utah and surrounding areas and will provide trauma-informed, holistic care on site. Services will include medical care, clinical therapy, education and life skills training, faith support groups, and legal assistance. Currently, survivors can receive temporary support through a Children’s Justice Center or another community organization. However, most of these programs are not equipped to provide the robust treatment survivors need to heal and reintegrate into society.
“Through our work at the Malouf Foundation, we have realized the need for more comprehensive care for survivors of trafficking. With this new aftercare center, we want to address the entire scope of healing and make sure these resources are easily accessible to survivors,” said Kacie Malouf, co-founder and board chair of the Malouf Foundation. “Oftentimes a survivor may feel like they have nowhere to go for help. We believe that if survivors have a safe place to go upon escape or rescue, more of them will be empowered to come forward and start the healing process sooner.”
At the Golf for Freedom event on June 8, Utah trafficking survivor Julie Whitehead will share the challenges she faced while trying to the find the right aftercare placement. She said, “As a survivor of human trafficking, it was terribly hard to re-enter society. There are so many issues to work through that require medical and therapeutic interventions, and frankly, it’s expensive.” She continued, “A lot of survivors cannot afford to travel the country and piece meal their therapy together like I had to. They don’t just need psychotherapy. They typically need medication management, occupational therapy and other wraparound services. That’s why aftercare centers are essential.”
The Malouf Foundation is working with the top survivor aftercare organizations in the country to create a preliminary structure for the new center—ensuring the program fits the individual needs of every survivor. The Foundation is aiming to build the aftercare center in the Great Salt Lake area and is currently looking at land opportunities. Renderings of the facility are also being created by Malouf’s award-winning interior design team.
For more information or ways to get involved with the aftercare center, email [email protected].
