Human trafficking is humanity’s worst atrocity. It is an activity that is illegal worldwide where humans are frequently trafficked for sexual slavery. Every 30 seconds a person is forced into human trafficking! Eighty percent of these cases are girls and women. Human trafficking is a crime that generates billions of dollars worldwide and much of that money is generated in the United States. The numbers are chronically underreported.

In 2022, Ohio was the fifth state with the most victims of human trafficking. In Columbus, human trafficking has to do with the cartel, sometimes with the police, and many times with drug dealers. The victims are of different races and are violated, some murdered and thrown like garbage in alleys and placed in abandoned buildings. We have a huge humanitarian crisis in the capital of Ohio.

In 2024,1DivineLine2Health reached a total of 1,905 victims on the West Side of Columbus through the Drop-In Center and Love Bug Street Outreach, both on Sullivant Avenue. Our Drop-In Center serves women and transgender folks caught up in the sex slave industry and have brains hijacked by drugs. We offer a sexual health clinic every Monday and a general medicine clinic twice a month. We opened our doors in January 2021. It has not been easy.

We also serve the children of these victims. We serve regular meals to 105 children and 65 of those children participated in our music, art, and dance program that is only being funded through June. This is a pilot program that serves children who are directly impacted by human trafficking and the opiate crisis. Many experts including the National Institute of Health describe our program as a form of “expressive arts,” a term used for any combination of dance, writing, visual arts, drama, music and other creative measures.

Expressive arts use different forms of creativity to enhance a child’s development and growth. The goals are to improve overall well-being and lower anxiety and stress levels. In addition, it improves self-awareness and self-esteem and strengthens relationships. Our rules of engagement, from keeping your hands to yourself and respecting people’s personal space, assist in regulating behaviors and advancing social skills in both the private and public sector. Boundaries must be established as a child. Lack of boundaries only leads to manipulative patterns and self-harm behaviors seen in adults who self-medicate with illicit drugs.

We have lost many to fatal overdoses and violence, and what the current Drop-In Centers that are popping up don’t know is that 1DivineLine2Health (1DL2H) was the pioneer. They no longer must go through the red tape and educate funders about the purpose of Drop-In Centers. Compassion is 1DL2H’s fuel. We are continuously overlooked by those who provide funding. We began by renting and getting kicked out of sites due to the clientele served.

1DL2H operates through a nursing and harm reduction approach. We are not PROSPERITY PIMPS who capitalize on human suffering. I am sometimes welcomed to trap houses and have no problem telling drug dealers and other perpetrators you are not welcome inside our front or back yards. Due to NEPOTISM regarding human trafficking funds, we are not fortunate enough to receive the funding that is truly needed! However, other Columbus organizations with our same mission of protecting human trafficking victims are privileged to receive funding, yet have allowed drug activities inside and outside their premises. There were women last year who died a few feet away from the specific site I am about to tell you about. There was a woman’s body decomposing, and the foul odor led a neighbor to call the police.

On Tuesday, January 28, Franklinton neighbors and advocates came to St John’s Episcopal Church to have an open dialogue for an hour and a half to address concerns about Sanctuary Night, a facility that opened in 2022 at 1195 Sullivant Avenue. There have been over 200 calls to the Columbus Police Department (CPD) about women being physically and sexually assaulted outside the property. Also, there has been 13 overdoses and several fatalities the founder forgot to mention. Already this year a woman died outside a dope house located a few feet away from the center. Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein, senators, and funders already have videos and hundreds of photos of illegal activities. This has been ongoing for three years.

Sanctuary Night has 17 staff members and clearly the lack of boundaries has created a dumping ground for garbage and illicit activities. They recently received $300,000 in funding from OneOhio Recovery Foundation to expand on their harm reduction model. A private nonprofit, OneOhio Recovery Foundation was created by Governor DeWine and Attorney General David Yost and is tasked with distributing the $500 million in settlements Ohio has received from pharmaceutical manufacturers and opioid distributors, such as Cardinal Health of Dublin. In contrast, 1DL2H operates a haven with only one paid staff and volunteers. I, Esther Flores, am the one paid staffer. And we have received zero funding from OneOhio Recovery Foundation.

Sanctuary Night’s executive director and founder Hannah Estabrook, also a Vineyard church pastor, is best friends with Attorney General Yost’s daughter. At the St John’s Episcopal Church meeting, a neighbor asked Estabrook “How have you reduced harm?” Neighbors clapped when one neighbor said, “the only option is to shut down this place because it has become an eyesore in the community.”

Local drug dealers are often seen during and after hours in front of the center. They are carefree as they set up shop and provide testers or samples. Some call these street scenes “open air drug markets.” Sam Quinones, author of Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic, describes this so clearly. Recovery sites including Drop-In Centers have lost perspective. They are like treatment centers. He said, “They also are fed. We over test, perform surgery, stick needles; these people are worse off. If we work on their nutrition, diet, sleep habits, smoke habits, helping [them] find work—then they improve.” The activities seen outside of Sanctuary Night, especially during the summer months, is unacceptable. Sanctuary Night created a mini–Skid Row. The neighbors addressing their concerns, including the males were called “Karens.” Neighbors who have complained are told to “Shut up.”

1DL2H partnered with SecUrban Living for surveillance. SecUrban Living is a public charity doing amazing work by collaborating to prevent crime and create safer neighborhoods for secure urban living. Again, 1DL2H has not received a dime from OneOhio Recovery Foundation, yet we practice harm reduction. The real practice of harm reduction not only aims to protect the individual suffering from substance abuse disorder but the family and community. SecUrban Living, 1DL2H, Crossroads World Ministry Food Pantry and other nonprofits who are not privilege to state and county funds truly care for the “least of these.”

 At 1DL2H, surveillance and ring cameras have been helpful to identify perpetrators and unacceptable behaviors. We immediately address the concerns directly to the person when they arise to reduce harm to those served. Harm reduction practices are now having a negative impact in gentrified communities. Let us look at the West Side. How many groceries stores sell drug paraphernalia? Do you know that it costs less to purchase a bong than a gallon of milk at the local grocery store? There are many suboxone and methadone clinics. Now there are cannabis stores. What they all have in common is they have become prosperity pimps just like the nonprofits that pay six figure salaries to CEOs who take money, SNAP cards and promote sober programs, yet drugs are inside the premises. This is mind boggling, but it has been happening for years.

I have had some of the women from Sanctuary Night try their behavior at our Drop-In Center. We have a zero-tolerance policy for the use of drugs and disrespect inside and outside our property. Our site still looks good, and we have neighbors that LOVE us. Our harm reduction is a form of love which protects a person and community. What happens at Sanctuary Nights affects our Love Bug Street Outreach and our center on the Hilltop. To allow drugs in a facility that receives City and County funding is a breach of contract and illegal. I know several other organizations that truly love and support human trafficking victims, their children, and caregivers. They could do many wonders if they received half the funding Sanctuary Night receives. Columbus needs to stand up for, and work together to protect the most vulnerable. Gaslighting neighbors and real advocates is not a solution.

A bearer of truth said, “If you know the truth, then you can be set free.” Do not become prey by ignoring criminal activities such as human and drug trafficking in your neighborhood. Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Violence brings only temporary victories; violence, by creating many more social problems than it solves, never brings permanent peace.”

Let’s start the new year right by supporting frontliners who only want a peaceful and healthy community for all. We don’t need any more places that are sanctuary nightmares for neighbors and sick folks. Programs that work with women cannot be co-ed when there are pedophiles, murderers, and drug lords roaming the streets. 1DL2H learned that immediately. Men need their own Drop-In Centers and need male role models. As an expert of compassion, let me sound an ALARM that human trafficking exists in your neighborhood, nation, and world. Report immediately if you suspect a victim to 911, which is faster than the national human trafficking hotline.

This is why 1DL2H and frontliners exist to empower you with the burden truth to protect you, your family and community from crime. If you want to support our cause, visit our page at 1dl2h.org.