Casa of Hope: Orcutt woman building a safe place for trafficking victims

Now, Casa of Hope is looking to expand its board, acquire a property, and open the doors to a refuge for victims and a bridge to their future.

“This cannot be a silo. This has to be collaborative. We learn most from the women who would be needing help, and we want the community to come together on this as much as possible. Nothing will be accomplished without collaboration,” said Israel Gonzales, associate pastor at Orcutt Presbyterian Church and Casa of Hope’s board liaison to the faith community.

The safe house is the brainchild of Connie Logeman of Orcutt. She became deeply aware of human trafficking a decade ago while living in Thailand. There, she met a couple who ran a safe house for trafficking victims from Cambodia.

“I was devastated by their stories. It’s bad here, but it’s 100-percent worse over there. There are no laws there to protect them. We talked, cried, prayed, and I came back and couldn’t get them out of my mind,” Logeman said.

When she retired to the Santa Maria Valley, she began volunteering at various local organizations until she settled on one: serving as a mentor at Santa Barbara County Juvenile Hall.

“I really enjoy teaching life skills, but God put this on my heart. We knew about human trafficking five years ago, but we turned a blind eye. Now it’s major,” Logeman said.

Rather than re-create the wheel, she reached out to Generate Hope, a San Diego-area program that mirrored Logeman’s dream.

She spoke with her pastor, Gonzales, who had become alarmed by the human trafficking issue he had learned about through other channels as well. She spoke with Mayor Alice Patino and other movers and shakers in the community.

“These aren’t necessarily people from out of the country. These are our children. These are local girls who have been victimized from the day they were born. The pimps know which kids are broken, who has been thrown out of their home or run away from bad situations. They prey on that,” Logeman said.

Casa of Hope could serve as a safe house for human trafficking victims from anywhere in the nation, Logeman said, because victims are often moved from town to town to run their scheme and press on before law enforcement gets wise.

“There are already temporary safe houses all over Santa Maria, all over the country. We need a long-term solution where they can get help with mental health, access to education, get medical help,” Logeman said.

Those being housed won’t be locked in. Instead, Casa of Hope will serve as their home, providing their own room, clothing, food, counseling and medical care as needed. It would initially be staffed by volunteers who, Logeman said, are already lining up.

Ultimately, Casa of Hope will have paid staff including a clinical and education manager, victim services advocate, and mental health care providers. Each resident would receive a personal development education plan.

“It’s going to be a whole new world. It’s our job to help our children advance themselves. It’s sad what parents are doing to their kids, and it angers me,” Logeman said.

“It’s time to move on this. We need this house. There’s a house out there for us, and it’s going to be soon, I know,” Logeman said.

“Lilla Watson, an Aboriginal activist, said, ‘If you come here to help, you’re wasting your time, but if you come here because you see your liberation tied to mine, then we can work together.’ I want to believe that, because I see my humanity tied to my neighbors. I’m not really free, we’re not really free, as long as people around us, people anywhere, are being oppressed,” Gonzales said.

For more information about Casa of Hope, visit CasaOfHope.org.