Palatine site to become group home for human trafficking survivors
A secluded, wooded area in Palatine will be the site for the first DCFS-licensed group home in Illinois for young female survivors of human trafficking.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday for the facility, which will serve girls ages 12 to 18.
The effort is a partnership between Shelter Inc., which provides comprehensive and community-based services for children and families at risk and in need, and the Housing Opportunity and Development Corporation (HODC), a community-based nonprofit developer of affordable housing in the northern suburbs.
The environmentally friendly 12-bedroom home will be developed by HODC and constructed by Buffalo Grove's SI Container Build Inc., a women-owned business utilizing shipping containers.
The property will be fully fenced and protected by security cameras. Residents will have 24-hour therapeutic support available.
“Today signifies a step in providing not only resources for survivors of human trafficking, a need that far too often is overlooked and unrecognized, but also a safe and secure home for those who need it,” said Carina Santa Maria, Shelter Inc. executive director.
Santa Maria said the home will provide a safe space where residents can heal, rebuild their lives and find hope for the future.
“This will be the first housing of its kind in the entire state,” Richard Koenig, HODC executive director, said. “By next summer, we're hoping to be able to have folks move in, to be able to live here and have this place to live.”
Speakers at the ceremony included Sophia Manera, a survivor and consultant.
“Standing here today represents not just the creation of a building, but the foundation of hope, healing and recovery for so many young people who, like me, desperately needed a place to rebuild their lives,” she said.
She said the beds will be filled quickly, “which is a tragedy in itself.”
However, she added, “The important thing is that they will be open, and when these youth arrive, they will be met by people ready to receive them, to create community around them that will allow them to heal, to see beyond their trauma and to dream, maybe for the first time, or maybe for the first time in a long time.”
The project is a public-private partnership, with the state’s Department of Children and Family Services providing the bulk of the $5.2 million in funding. Other financing partners include the Foglia Family Foundation, the Canning Foundation, the Fitzgerald Family Foundation, the Endeavor Health Community Investment Fund and the Chicago Bears.