Unbound Now

A nonprofit organization

$37,055 raised by 77 donors

100% complete

$35,000 Goal

Unbound Now’s office in North Texas is on the forefront of service and support for youth and adult survivors of human trafficking. Unbound Now exists to support survivors and resource our community to fight human trafficking and ignite hope through survivor advocacy, the 24/7 Underground drop-in center, youth prevention education, and professional training.

Traffickers slowly gain trust and build dependency through coercive control and exploitation of existing vulnerabilities in youth and adults. This can take the form of isolation, threats of violence, and sexual demands, coupled with affection and support, which can create a strong emotional bond with the trafficker, due to the way in which this type of interpersonal and invasive trauma affects the endocrine and parasympathetic nervous systems. 

Perpetrators of this crime use force, fraud, and coercion to profit from exploitation of another person for sex or labor. Traffickers use promises of love, a better life, a job, protection, or fulfillment of needs or desires to deceive those targeted. Those being trafficked often do not realize that they have been victimized or that help is available. Traffickers can also be family members, using close proximity and innate trust to take advantage of a child, or managers, who exploit someone’s immigration status through forced labor and withholding pay. So-called “guerrilla pimps” use violence or the threat of violence to force vulnerable people to do what they say.

Unbound Now's Advocacy team uses evidence-based, trauma-informed, and survivor-centered practices to ensure that the relationship built between a survivor and their advocate is established quickly and carries through to support effective healing and restoration. Unbound Now Advocates are field-based so that they can meet survivors where they are, geographically and emotionally. As a result, Unbound Now has seen many survivors reach their goals and find restoration. The Unbound Now Advocacy program has been selected as an official advocacy provider by local child sex trafficking protocol development groups in Tarrant, Denton, and Johnson Counties. Unbound Now is endorsed by the Office of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s Child Sex Trafficking Team, which has established Minimum Standards and Best Practices for Commercially Sexually Exploited Youth. Human trafficking survivors have years of recovery ahead and they sometimes return to their trafficker because the healing process is so challenging. Unbound Now’s advocates stay close to their clients and build trust over time - sometimes years. 

In October 2020, Unbound Now expanded support services for youth by opening the Underground Drop-In Center, located at One Safe Place near downtown Fort Worth. Open 24/7, the center offers youth through age 22 a safe place to rest, enjoy a meal, shower, and receive counseling and referrals for additional services. This refuge for services helps Unbound Now identify typically difficult-to-reach youth in order to intervene earlier in their trafficking experience, sometimes before they are exploited. Additionally, the Underground includes a soft interview room where youth who have been victimized can share their difficult stories in a warm, comforting, and therapeutic environment. 

The Underground staff have served youth through over 2,000 visits since opening. Those who exhibit clear-concern for human trafficking, as determined through the validated Commercial Sexual Exploitation Identification Tool (CSE-IT), are invited to work with an Unbound Now Advocate to help the survivor carry forward their restorative process for as long as needed. Others, who may be experiencing homelessness, family conflict, sexual abuse, or domestic violence are at a high risk of exploitation and receive care at the Underground, as well as referrals to services to prevent future trafficking situations. 

Unbound Now prevents trafficking through educating students on safe relationships, increases identification of survivors through targeted outreach, and equips direct service providers with an ability to provide referrals and trauma-informed care to survivors. Through a partnership with Fort Worth ISD funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Unbound Now is on track to train thousands of students, teachers, and counselors on how to prevent and respond to human trafficking. 

Mission

We exist to support survivors and resource our community to fight human trafficking

Needs

Unbound Now has a goal to raise $1.2 million this fiscal year for our 24/7 Survivor Advocacy services, Underground Drop-in Center, Youth Prevention Education, and Community Outreach.

Equity Statement

Unbound Now's programs serve our community without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion (creed), sex, gender identity and expression, age, English proficiency, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, or sexual orientation.

Organization Data

Summary

Organization name

Unbound Now

Tax id (EIN)

84-4960264

Guidestar

Causes

Domestic/Family Violence & Advocacy, Human Trafficking & Exploitation, Youth & Children

Operating Budget

$1,000,000 - $2,999,999

Counties Served

Denton, Erath, Johnson, Parker, Somervell, Tarrant

BIPOC Serving

Black or African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic or Latinx

BIPOC Leadership

Neither/None

Equity Statement

Equity Statement

Address

5049 Trail Lake Dr.
Fort Worth, TX 76133

Phone

817-668-6544

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