Chris and Anna Smith, who are poised to open the first safe house in
the United States for sex trafficked boys, didn’t set out to be
trailblazers. They founded their Christian ministry, Restore One, in
2012, hoping to open a facility for girls in Greenville, N.C.
Anna, a sex trafficking survivor, worked as an intern at a similar
facility, Hope House, in Asheville, N.C. When Hope House founder Emily
Fitchpatrick learned the Smiths wanted to open a home, she asked them to
consider taking in boys.
“That wasn’t something we wanted to pioneer,” Anna Smith told me.
Then the Smiths heard Tina Frudt, human trafficking survivor and
founder of Courtney’s House, describe the plight of boys who came to her
program.
“There are no places that boys can go,” Frudt told The Daily Reflector.
According to one study, as many as 50 percent of sexually exploited
minors are males and yet there are few resources for them, including
residential treatment facilities.
“That’s when we said yes to boys,” Anna said.
The Smiths named the home Anchor House, and trials immediately weighed it down.
The first property they found was too small to accommodate the
facility. They had to turn down free property fromAnna’s father because
it would cost an estimated $150,000 to clear the trees. Another location
in neighboring Beaufort County failed percolation tests, making it
unsuitable for building.
“Donors started questioning, ‘Hey is this ever going to happen?’
because we were spending months just trying to find land,” Chris Smith
told The Daily Reflector.
After a year’s search, the couple bought 10 acres in Greenville, N.C.,
near the Greene-Pitt County line, a soybean-and-tobacco-rich community
with a population of 21,000.
The Smiths didn’t tell the county commissioner’s office of their plans,
and they registered their property under a different name. The Smiths
didn’t inform the neighbors either. Anna said the home operates like a
domestic violence shelter, where privacy and confidentiality are
important.
“There was no need for us to inform the community about the home. The
boys will actually be testifying against their perpetrators, and we
don’t want their location known,” she said. “We want to be a ‘you don’t
see us organization’ … providing safety for boys who experienced trauma
and harm.”
But the need to raise awareness and private funding soon collided with
the need for privacy. When media coverage revealed the facility’s
location, a few area residents weren’t happy. Carson Edwards, 63, a
lifelong resident of Greene County, had concerns when he learned about
the facility in the morning paper.
“On the front page I saw this was happening,” Edwards told North Carolina News.
Carson and others were angry they weren’t informed about the facility
beforehand. Residents worried their property values would plummet and
the boys’ presence would increase crime. The residents complained to the
Greene County Board of Commissioners, who adopted a resolution opposing
the location. But because the location lacked zoning restrictions,
commissioners had no legal options to halt construction.
Local residents weren’t convinced the county was out of options.
Earline Smith, whose property adjoins the Anchor House construction
site, pounded county commissioners with questions.
“Will they pay property taxes? What happens when donations dry up? Will
Greene County pick up the cost?” The Daily Reflector reported. “Will we
need extra deputies to babysit these males? If they won’t take their
medicine, will a deputy have to be called to make them?”
Anna tried to assure residents.
“These are victims, not criminals,” she said.
At the county line, someone erected a banner that read, “No sex
trafficking lodge here.” Other signs posted by opponents littered main
roads.
“Ten to 15 neighbors cause a really loud riot,” Anna said. “But we were
naive to think everyone would welcome a boys’ safe home.”
In response, the Smiths organized a series of informational meetings
for the community, detailing their plans. The boys—four at first and
eventually as many as 12—will be referred by law enforcement and
advocacy groups from around the country. They will have to pass drug
screens and personality evaluations. Because of confidentiality
concerns, none of the boys housed at Anchor House will be from the local
community. A group of volunteers, night guards, and a $12,000 security
system with cameras will monitor the facility.
“I do not like how it was all hush-hush, secret-secret, whatever.
Nobody likes that,” Jerry Jones, chairman of the Greene County Board of
Commissioners told Kinston.com. “But what’s done is done.”
Meanwhile, amid the opposition, the Smiths built the facility, a
4,430-square-foot, two-story main building and a 1,639-square-foot
cottage. Financed through private donors, Anchor House is currently debt
free.
“Who does that? Only God,” Anna said, adding she has seen God work in
adversity to accomplish His plans. “Looking back, I am grateful for the
heartache of this journey. God was moving us at His own pace, growing
us, and maturing us.”
Anchor House is set to open in late 2016. The Smiths are trying to
raise an additional $400,000 to cover the maintenance costs of running
the facility.
“There is always another faith journey,” Anna said. “This is just one more wait in faith.”
Courtesy: WORLD News Service
Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com
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