On a sunny spring afternoon at the Eden Emergency Center in New Orleans, a 24-hour facility for human trafficking survivors, a bedroom awaited a newcomer. There was a handwritten welcome card and gift basket placed atop a freshly made canopy bed.
The faint scent of candle wax permeated a craft room, where sewing machines stood ready. Down the hall, a small art group worked with paint, pastels, pencils and watercolors. Peer support staff member and artist Kellie, who described her role as “like a house mom,” facilitated the art session.
“One of my favorite things we have done is the hands,” said Kellie, a survivor who chose to be identified by her first name only for safety purposes. “In one hand, you have what was in your past and what you want to let go of. In the other hand is what you want to hold on to.”
In her piece, Kellie depicted letting go of her shame, guilt and pain, while holding on to her sense of safety, self-worth, compassion and love.
The “family room” at the Eden Emergency Center hosts group art sessios.
Sometimes, clients are asked to draw things they find beautiful — once, someone drew a vape, Kellie said with a chuckle. Housing director Ashlie Bissell has also asked newcomers to draw their worlds as they appear in that moment.
“That world looks different when they first come in versus when they’re a year or two (in),” Bissell said. “A lot of times, it looks a little bit lighter. … a little less chaotic.”
The Eden Emergency Center, a 10-bed facility in an undisclosed, tree-lined location, was the first of its kind in the nation to partner and be located on site of a hospital system when it opened in 2023. It is the newest site operated by Eden Centers for Hope and Healing, which launched its first recovery home in 2011 and a second in 2022.
Together, the centers offer wraparound services and safe transitional housing for adult survivors of human trafficking.
Founded by Kara Van de Carr and Katherine Green, the first Eden House built on a model used by the Magdalene Serenity House in Nashville. That model offers survivors a safe place to heal and rest while receiving services including trauma and addiction therapy, medical and dental referrals, legal aid, job readiness, financial literacy and parenting classes, at no cost, among other forms of support.
At Eden Centers, the emergency center is often the first stop for survivors. Over the course of a 90-day program, the goal is to help them feel stable and safe after getting out of a trafficking situation that may cause anxiety and PTSD.
Every resident at the Eden Emergency Center gets a private bedroom.
“They just need somewhere to rest, and to sleep, and to gain their grounding,” said chief executive officer Jennifer Best. “Number one, (they) process what just happened to them, and then two, ‘How do I move forward?’ That’s where we came up with our emergency center.”
Survivors can attend therapeutic group classes, but are not required to, and everyone gets their own private room — a point of difference between Eden Emergency Center and a traditional shelter.
“That can really help them rest, being able to shut the door and be here alone, and know that no one’s coming in,” said Stephanie Wilkins, chief clinical officer.
After the 90-day program, survivors may move into a two-year residential program at one of two eight-person homes, if space is available. From there, they may enter the Rapid Rehousing program, which provides ongoing case management and tiered rental assistance for housing of their choice.
For the first three months, Eden Centers pays 100% of the rent. That amount decreases by 25% every three months, so that after a year, survivors are prepared to pay their rent in full. Currently, participants are in school to become social workers and paramedics, and others have gone to work at nonprofits and recovery centers.
“We really wanted our goal to be to build that foundation so that they would be self-sufficient at the end of it,” Bissell said.
Fifty families are currently housed in the Rapid Rehousing program, and Eden Center will soon open a location in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“The more that people know about us, the more the word gets out, and they’re able to get services, which is great,” Best said. “But now we’re running out of room.”
About 70% of people who come to Eden Centers requesting services are turned away due to a lack of capacity, according to Best. The Centers have run at full capacity since 2023, but The Eden Centers is campaigning to increase its capacity to more than 100 beds.
Each bed represents the potential for an altered life trajectory.
“I didn’t want to leave. I made friends here I will probably have for life,” Kellie said of her time living at the Eden Emergency Center. “I left here in March, and by that time I felt a lot better, and my life has gotten progressively better.”
Now, as a staff member, she gets to witness and facilitate that healing process.
“Being able to walk alongside people is special to me. … I see survivors come in here every day,” Kellie said. “And then I see people who come out on the other side, and it is beautiful.”
