Ft Worth Times

Dallas streets are the scene of 400 teens being sold in human trafficking every night.

Texas holds the dubious ranking of No. 2 in the nation for human trafficking. The victims top 230,000, with almost 80,000 minors as victims, NBCDFW reported.

A nonprofit based in Dallas said that during the pandemic their help is most needed despite their reduced funding. New Friends in Life works to help the sexually exploited women and their children. They want to give teen girls who have been trafficked their identities back to empower them, NBCDFW reported. They offer mental health and spiritual support, job training and education, in addition to support services.

The COVID-19 pandemic prevents them from hosting in-person events, which curtails their fundraising.

“We are dealing with cutbacks. We are dealing with the possibility of not having a substantial portion of the income that we had planned at the beginning of the year,” New Friends New Life CEO Kim Robinson told NBCDFW.

The survivors of human trafficking are seeing their hours cut or even lost their jobs. The nonprofit wants to help make sure they don’t go back to being victims to get enough food to feed their families.

“Keeping in contact with them is a critical element during this pandemic, because that's a part of the trust relationship, letting them know that we're still going to find ways to be there for them and to continue our clinical services," Robinson told NBCDFW.

She said exploitation has risen during the pandemic.

Now they need more help from donors, whether it’s financial or people who can donate their talents.