Traci Grasso is the project coordinator at the Renee Jones Empowerment Center. She spoke as she packed heart-shaped notes into care bags for victims of sex trafficking.
“Each of them says, ‘You are loved.' They are hand-written,” Grasso said.
The care bags are for the center’s first popup installation of their Project Red Cord Night Out Street Outreach event, a program that provides resources to people in need.
“Right now, we are heading to west 73rd and Lorain. These bags are full of toiletries. There (are) toothbrushes, deodorant, things like that,” Grasso said as she organized the bags in the trunk of their outreach van.
Grasso rode to the neighborhood with Renee Jones, the van's driver and founder of the center. Jones said the area that they are targeting on their mission is underserved and at-risk.
“It’s the highest area of prostitution in the city of Cleveland, and no matter what time of day you go there, it’s usually, you will see people walking around, you know, women selling themselves,” Jones said.
Within seconds of spotting someone, Jones pulled over and honked at a woman to stop her from walking away. She instructed Grasso to jump out of the back seat and hand the bag to her. It’s a task that Grasso completed delicately so she wouldn't be scared by the van’s abrupt approach.
Once the hand off was over, the woman thanked Grasso for the bag and she continued on her way.
Back in the car, Grasso said, “It’s just a really great feeling to know that we are able to help people.”
Jones said that in 2022, the center is scheduled to mark its 20th year doing anti-human trafficking work in northeast Ohio. It’s work that Jones got involved with because she said she noticed a lack of programming for victims.
“They basically got arrested and went to jail when most of the times, they were victims and they didn’t have any services offered to them,” Jones said. “No one was really talking about human trafficking or believing that something like that existed in our community.”
Jones added that outreach and education are vital because anyone can fall prey to this crime.
“The warning signs (are), you know, if you a have a kid that was generally outgoing — this is just one example — and all of the sudden, they’re withdrawn, they’re isolated, they don’t want to be with the family anymore. Cause one of the things that traffickers do is to isolate the individual and they want to be the one that provides everything that that person is going to need,” Jones said.
Jones said the group plans to do more street outreach and popup events with the goal of ending human trafficking in northeast Ohio.
“Realistically, when you have people making billions of dollars, it will probably be something that exists,” Jones said. “However, we can, as a communities [sic], if you get together, and you stand up for what is right, and you make sure that people are educated, and you make sure that you will not allow this to be in your community, in the place where you live, I think we can definitely make a dent in it."
If you’re interested in learning more about Renee Jones Empowerment Center, visit their website.