Federal funds for a Central Oregon-based anti-human trafficking program aren’t just a financial boost, said the program’s director, they’re a lifeline for survivors trying to heal.

“It fuels our passion, determination and commitment to creating a community free of exploitation,” said Breanne Barrett, the director of at:project, which provides free, voluntary and confidential help to victims and survivors of human trafficking in Central Oregon through local social service organization J Bar J Youth Services.

Oregon Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, both Democrats, announced a $300,000 grant for the at:project Monday. 

“The crime of human trafficking devastates lives and demands a serious and substantive effort to end it in Oregon and nationwide,” Wyden said in Monday’s announcement.

He called human trafficking a “scourge” in Central Oregon.

The funds, which came from the federal Administration for Children and Families, will go toward expanding at:project’s existing services, which includes everything from crisis intervention services to long-term case management, Barrett said.

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Those services can include assisting law enforcement responses, securing emergency hotel rooms or shelter and connecting victims and survivors to behavioral health services and permanent housing. 

“Kind of anything a client asks for,” Barrett said. “Everything is client-centered.”

The project sees roughly 86 cases of human trafficking per year, according to Barrett. The primary age range of those cases is between 16 and 24 years old, and a correlation exists between human trafficking and the abnormally high rates of unsheltered homelessness among youth and families in Central Oregon.

Around 58% of at:project’s clients experienced homelessness or were runaway youths at one point in their lives or were trafficked while they were homeless, according to a two-year review of the project’s cases. 

With the new funds, Barrett expects she and her team of advocates might identify more cases than usual because they’ll be able to bolster services and cover more ground, particularly in Crook and Jefferson counties.

If you or someone you know is a victim, suspected victim or survivor of human trafficking, and is in need of services in Central Oregon, get help by calling 541-647-0658 or visit at-project.org/get-help/.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline offers 24/7, near immediate help via phone at 1-888-373-7888, via text by messaging “BEEFREE” or “HELP” to 233733, via email at help@humantraffickinghotline.org and online in both Spanish and English at humantraffickinghotline.org.