NEW FRIENDS NEW LIFE
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Mission Statement
New Friends New Life restores and empowers trafficked and sexually exploited teen girls, women and their children, and drives awareness of the issue and its prevalence. By providing case management, counseling, economic empowerment/educational support, we are creating a community where women and girls can soar above the limits of their past to achieve their dreams.
About This Cause
NFNL serves teens and women who have experienced sex trafficking and exploitation. Some program members are part of the over 300,000 women and children trafficked annually in Texas alone, and Dallas has the second-highest number of trafficking cases in Texas. Other program members are vulnerable young girls who have experienced childhood abuse, poverty, homelessness, and other vulnerability factors, and are being enticed by traffickers promising love or money. National research shows 90% of women in the industry were sexually abused as children. The average age a girl is first trafficked is 15 years old, while the average age of our adult program members are 34. This means that many of the program members at NFNL have experienced decades of abuse. New Friends New Life addresses the problem of sex trafficking in Dallas by stepping in to ensure survivors of trafficking and exploitation have the mental, tangible, and economic tools necessary to escape the sex trade for good, as well as advocating for policy change and education to bring awareness to trafficking and aid prevention efforts. The direct services New Friends New Life provides to restore and empower survivors of sex trafficking, who we call members, include: • Four-phase, trauma-informed Women’s Program including individual/group counseling, case management, and economic empowerment tools. This program helps adult women mentally recover from histories of abuse and exploitation and provides financial support for basic living expenses to bridge the gap to self-sufficiency. • Youth Resource Center (YRC) recognizes, recovers, and restores high-risk, exploited, and trafficked girls ages 12 – 22 through trauma-informed care. The YRC provides counseling, case management, and life skills programming to help girls recover and reroute their life trajectories away from exploitation. • Adult Resource Center (ARC) provides technology access, basic computer and life-skills training, and vocational and job readiness preparation opportunities. • Employment Partnership Program helps members transition into conventional employment, and partners with business in the North Texas area to transition members into entry-level, livable wage jobs with the goal of advancement and skill-building. Women in this program can accept internships, temporary assignments, and permanent positions to gain a variety of experience. • NFNL provides quality Childcare Programming so mothers can attend educational classes, with capacity to facilitate children’s therapy when needed to help children of members who have PTSD from witnessing or being victims of abuse and exploitation. • New in 2022, the on-site Legal Advocacy Clinic, part of the NLNL Legal Barrier Removal Project, provides our women, 70% of whom have a criminal record from acts they were forced to carry out while being exploited, with legal aid to help review criminal histories, create a legal action plan, lead cases on behalf of members, and maintain a Legal Advocacy Fund helping with fees associated with clearing criminal histories. New Friends New Life actively engages in community education and advocacy through: • The manKINDness Project™, an interactive learning experience tailored for young men in middle school, high school, and college. Developed with input from clinical psychologists and child development experts, manKINDness workshops create open dialogues around valuing and respecting girls and women and educate young men on the harmful effects of derogatory language, disrespectful actions, unhealthy social media behavior, viewing pornography, and other relevant habits which fuel the exploitation and violence against women. • The Men’s Advocacy Group (MAG), led by Dallas’ distinguished business and community leaders in partnership with New Friends New Life staff, who desire to be an active part of the solution to sex trafficking and exploitation. The Men’s Advocacy Group mobilizes local men to promote awareness and act against the sex trafficking and exploitation of women, girls, and children. • Sex Trafficking Awareness Excursions, charter bus tours that educate community members about the reality of sex trafficking in Dallas. While riding through the city, NFNL staff discuss past trafficking cases that have been worked by local law enforcement. NFNL is also a thought leader in the anti-trafficking industry in Texas, lending our expert insight to local news outlets like Dallas Morning News and Charity Talk Radio Show, as well as participating in state government initiatives around anti-trafficking policy. NFNL staff were invited to Senator John Cornyn’s roundtable discussion on the Abolish Human Trafficking Act along with subject matter experts from across the country, and hosted Texas Governor Greg Abbott in summer of 2019 for the signing of 5 bills into law increasing funds for anti-trafficking policy and supportive services for survivors. The goal for all programs at NFNL is for survivors to permanently leave a life of sex trafficking or exploitation and obtain self-sufficiency through conventional employment.