Stories of Salem: Safety Compass - A Beacon of Hope
By Meghan Jonas and Ashley Jackson Lawrence
Esther Nelson Garrett and Claire Vogelsang sit on a plush couch next to a small pile of books, including one called “The Survivors Guide to Leaving” and a sign that reads, “You can.” Soft lamps illuminate the space and there’s a feeling of calmness in the room despite the noise of the outside world.
Nelson Garrett and Vogelsang are advocates for Safety Compass, a local nonprofit working to create futures of safety for survivors of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.
Safety Compass’s CEO and founder, Esther Nelson Garrett, has been an advocate for nearly 19 years after getting her start working as a volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual assault. “It was my calling. I was just in the right place,” she said.
Claire Vogelsang is the Marion County Human Trafficking Task Force lead, in addition to being a Safety Compass advocate. She previously worked with low-income families and survivors of domestic violence. She continued her advocacy work in Ecuador where she worked in a long-term aftercare home for survivors of human trafficking.
“It was one of those things where the more I learned the more I felt compelled that this was my area that I was supposed to be in,” she said. She joined Safety Compass as a volunteer, quickly transitioning to a full-time staff member.
“Human trafficking can look like a lot of different things. But what it typically does not look like is the movie ‘Taken,’” Vogelsang says, laughing at the reference to the classic 2008 action movie. “The majority of the time, it’s a lot more subtle to the outside eye.”
Human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal industry in the world, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Commercial sexual exploitation is defined as the exchange of a sexual act for anything of value, including basic needs like food or shelter. Safety Compass serves survivors of both crimes while bringing awareness to the issues.
Founded in 2016, Safety Compass was originally a pilot project serving survivors of human trafficking in Portland. It rapidly grew as advocates found more survivors in need of support.
Nelson Garrett grew up in rural Oregon and knew all too well how children in rural areas often lack access to essential support services when they’re the victims of a crime. “That was my story,” she says, a fact she shares with survivors. She quickly expanded Safety Compass’s service area to focus on helping survivors outside of Portland.
“I founded Safety Compass with the whole goal of, you know, I can’t impact the state of Oregon or the whole world, but I can start in my town,” Nelson Garrett says.
What once started as grass-roots organizing and peer-to-peer support groups has flourished into a collaborative, multi-disciplinary support network across the Willamette Valley. Safety Compass partners with law enforcement, juvenile centers, housing and other social services to connect survivors of commercial sexual exploitation and human trafficking to resources.
Safety Compass is the first line of support in a continuum of care, bridging the gap between survivors and the resources available to them. They work closely with the Marion County Human Trafficking Task Force and other task forces across the state to combine resources and connect survivors to different areas of support.
Safety Compass’s services include their 24-hour Survivor Support Line and 24-hour callout team, which is dispatched by community partners when they suspect they may be working with a survivor of human trafficking. Advocates arrive within one hour of any call, working on-site with child welfare, law enforcement and medical providers.
After survivors have an immediate sense of safety, advocates focus on connecting them with resources. Sometimes, the job is around-the-clock. Advocates may spend the next 24-48 hours after a call-out checking survivors into safe locations, bringing them food and clothes, driving them to law enforcement interviews and providing them with mental support.
Between April 2018 and October 2022, Safety Compass advocated for and served over 300 survivors of human trafficking in Marion County, documenting over 8,000 individual service encounters. Between Washington, Marion and Clackamas counties, advocates served over 1,100 survivors and had nearly 28,000 service encounters in that same time frame.
“We’ve found that when we build that relationship and rapport with people in crisis, there’s a lot of trust in us in that our word is trustworthy. So we want to honor that well,” Nelson Garrett says.
Safety Compass never closes services for survivors, building relationships that can last lifetimes. Advocates facilitate support groups and hold events that provide opportunities for joy throughout the year. According to Nelson Garrett, “[It’s] life beyond the trauma.”
Safety Compass measures success by celebrating the little wins, Vogelsang says. Advocates know healing isn’t linear and that it’s important to honor the work survivors accomplish along the way.
Vogelsang spoke about a youth that had called Safety Compass’s crisis line as a runaway. Safety Compass was able to get them housed within 24 hours through a partner agency and continued to follow up with mental health and other supports, including encouraging them to continue their education.
“We watched them so quickly get to this stable place,” Vogelsang says.
Many survivors build friendships with their advocates that last decades. Nelson Garrett spoke of one survivor who she had worked with for over 15 years. Nelson Garrett met her when she was 15, a teenager escaping traumatic exploitation. Now a 30-year-old mom, she still attends Safety Compass support groups and events.
“I feel like I have a front-row seat to the most hopeful unfolding of a story of like, anyone alive, you know? Because they’re overcoming so much,” Nelson Garrett says.
She’s present for it all. She’s even been with survivors when they have their own children. They’ll call and tell her, “You’re the person I want to be here at the hospital because there’s no one safe in my whole life.” But now, there is.
For more information on Safety Compass, visit https://safetycompass.org. If you or someone you love is in crisis and needs to speak to an advocate, call Safety Compass’s 24-Hour Survivor Support Line at (971) 235-0021 or the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1 (888) 373-7888.
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