Hope Village for Children is one of nine Mississippi organizations awarded a total $2.08 million in grants from a state fund aimed at helping human trafficking victims become survivors.

The grants are being awarded from the Victims of Human Trafficking and Commercial Exploitation Fund, created by the state Legislature during the 2020 legislative session.

“Few crimes rob a person of their humanity, power and dignity like human trafficking, but we do not have to let it steal their future,” said Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch in announcing the awards on Thursday. “Helping human trafficking victims become survivors takes us all coming together, and Mississippi is blessed with these nine organizations committed to walking alongside these victims on their journey to find healing and restoration.”

Hope Village for Children, a home in Meridian for abused and neglected children, is set to receive $321,722 in funds to help establish a shelter for minor victims of human trafficking.

“This award means that Hope Village will be able to provide a safe, secure home where female victims of human trafficking can live and start to heal from their trauma of human exploitation,” said Hope Village Executive Director Terri Provence.

The funds will be used to renovate an existing cottage on the Hope Village campus to specifically meet the needs of minor human trafficking victims, as well as for funding staff and training.

“Given the unique needs of this population, the staff who work with these girls must have special training in order to respond in a way that will help the residents heal,” Provence said. “Thus, part of the funds received will be used to train our direct care staff, and we will also need to hire a director who can oversee the program.”

She said, “Our organization will also need to do some renovations to the existing building we are planning to use to provide the safest possible home where the residents can relax and feel safe.”

The human trafficking shelter will be a new program for Hope Village.

“Right now, we only have the funding to get it started,” Provence said. “We will seek further funding when we are closer to opening the shelter.”

The other eight recipients of this year’s legislative fund grants are the Center for Violence Prevention, $813,575; Domestic Abuse Family Shelter, $93,433; El Pueblo, $93,472; Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence, $146,446; Mississippians Against Human Trafficking, $79,500; Natchez Children’s Advocacy Center, $12,594; Southern Christian Services, $492,278; and Sunnybrook Children’s Home, $27,800.

In total, the legislative fund received 13 application requests from projects totaling more than $3.19 million during the funding period, Fitch said.

“I am grateful for the state Legislature’s willingness to ensure these organizations have the resources they need to support these brave individuals working to rebuild their lives,” Fitch said in a press release. “And I am grateful to the members of the Fund Committee for the time and thoughtful consideration they offer the state to ensure these funds are spent to fulfill the Legislature’s intent.”