Anti–Human Trafficking
Rescue is not enough. Survivors need a home.
IMI builds self-sustaining safe houses for trafficking survivors in the United States — each one funded by its own businesses, wrapped in a local church family, and staffed with counselors who stay for the long road of healing.
If you or someone you know needs help
The National Human Trafficking Hotline is free, confidential, and answers 24/7. In immediate danger, call 911.
Why we started
Three girls we will not forget
In 2020, three teenage trafficking victims were rescued from their traffickers. They had survived the worst thing that can happen to a child — and then they waited. Government housing had been promised, but it did not come in time. All three died by suicide.
That is the year IMI stopped waiting for someone else to build the housing. Applying the same City of Refuge model that has sustained an orphanage in Honduras for decades, the ministry began opening safe houses of its own — homes that exist the day a survivor needs one, because their funding does not depend on a grant cycle or a waiting list.
The need is staggering. Residents of Native American reservations in the USA report that as many as 1 in 5 girls die or disappear before the age of 18 — and residents themselves say the true number may be closer to 2 in 5. Behind each statistic is a girl who needs what those three never received: a safe place to land, and people who stay.
The model
Safe houses that fund themselves
Every IMI safe house follows the City of Refuge design: businesses on the outside, refuge on the inside. In Missouri, a six-bedroom safe house is funded by a coffee shop, storage units, and a retail store — income that keeps the lights on whether or not a single donation arrives that month.
And no house stands alone. Each one is partnered with a local church and staffed with support workers and counselors, so survivors are surrounded by professional care and a spiritual family at the same time.
Where they stand
Safe houses in four states
- Hawaii
- Iowa
- Minnesota
- Missouri
For the protection of every resident, IMI never publishes any location detail beyond the state — no addresses, no cities, no photographs of the homes.
Take the next step
Learn it. Spot it. Fight it.
The safe-house model
Self-sustaining businesses, church partnership, counselors — how one house in Missouri points the way for many more.
Go deeper →
Warning signs
Trafficking hides in plain sight. Learn what to watch for in a teenager’s life — and exactly what to do if you see it.
Learn the signs →
Fund the next house
Give to the “Fight Human Trafficking in the USA” fund — every dollar builds housing and the businesses that sustain it.
Give now →
A survivor should never wait for a home
Give to the Fight Human Trafficking in the USA fund, volunteer your skills, or bring your church into partnership.