Press Release 01-23-2023

F O R   I M M E D I A T E   R E L E A S E

January 23, 2023

FREEDOM AVIATION NETWORK STARTS IN NASHVILLE

Since its formation on September 6, 2022, Freedom Aviation Network (FAN) has successfully flown 14 missions transporting 16 survivors of human trafficking within 300 nautical miles around Middle Tennessee. More requests for transportation are coming in regularly.

There are many organizations, both private and governmental, that are working to combat human trafficking, but a common problem they all face is the transport of survivors. The Polaris Project’s (the National Human Trafficking Hotline) survivor survey, 54 percent of human trafficking survivors noted that access to transportation was a barrier to leaving their situation.[1]  Often, the survivor is at significant risk of being re-exploited by their captors if they remain in the same area. Freedom Aviation Network seeks to bridge that gap by providing survivors with safe transportation out of their area of danger.

In early 2020, Jared Miller, the Executive Director of FAN, was a part of an operation to rescue a woman being trafficked out of state, needing to get far away from a brutal situation. The operation was incredibly risky with multiple layers of complexity, taking over 32 hours, multiple vehicles, several rescue operators, and extensive logistical components to bring her to safety. The mission was accomplished, but Jared was left feeling frustrated by the danger and difficulty of the simple act of transportation. He was sure there had to be a better way. He turned to private aviation and began the process of getting his private pilot’s license by reconnecting with an old friend, Stephanie Lamar, who is a Certified Flight Instructor (and now the FAN Chief Operations Officer). They joined Joe Creecy, the organizer of the Nashville IMC Club (a group of local pilots and Air Traffic Controllers dedicated to aviation education) and met with a local anti-human trafficking organization called Rescue 1 Global to coordinate efforts. Out of that meeting, Freedom Aviation Network was born.

Jared explains, “Somewhere between identifying that trafficking is occurring and the survivor seeking full restoration, there is currently no guaranteed, safe, and efficient way of transporting survivors or their advocates to and from a rescue operation, between rescue shelters, court appointments, or back home to their families. Often, the solution is putting survivors back onto some form of public transportation where they are subjected to chaotic travel environments and the risk of re-exploitation.”

With Freedom Aviation Network, general aviation pilots donate their time and aircraft to provide that safe and efficient method of transportation the survivors need. FAN will post a need and their roster of volunteer pilots can sign up to fly that mission. FAN then coordinates to have the survivor and an advocate meet the pilot at a local airport to initiate the rescue flight. Currently, the service area is directly contingent on the location of pilots, but target expansion states are Virginia, Ohio, Texas, and Georgia.

Jared says, “There is no typical profile for trafficking victims or traffickers. Children are most vulnerable, especially those who runaway. Women and girls are more often groomed into sex trafficking, but men and boys are as well. The Department of Homeland Security defines human trafficking as the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Victims may be used for sex trade, forced labor, or both.

Traffickers capitalize on those who are most vulnerable. Children who have runaway are alone, scared, and looking for someone to show them love. Often traffickers groom people into involuntary servitude by making promises of affection.  This eventually, and often subtly, turns into manipulation and shaming. After a while, some form of addictive substance is often introduced to aid the trafficker in making the victim become completely dependent on them.

Each rescue scenario is different. Sometimes an organization responsible for combatting human trafficking will receive a lead from any number of sources – family, friends, a business owner, a hospital, a stranger who sees something suspicious, etc. The agency will conduct some kind of investigation and enter the situation in efforts to show the person that there is a way out. Sometimes, the survivor calls an agency themselves and asks to be picked up and taken from their situation. Sometimes law enforcement calls an agency to assist with an extraction as the agencies working with trafficking survivors typically have case management services and safe house shelters available. Extractions can be conducted with law enforcement going to the situation and removing the individual, survivors may flee the situation and meet an extraction team at a designated location, or private investigation teams might work to intervene and remove the survivor. Once a survivor is able to get out and into the care of an anti-human trafficking organization, they are typically provided with full-service restorative opportunities such as case management, doctor visits, therapy, food and shelter, and detox facilities. Programs range from 6 months to 2 years, and many organizations are creating long-term assistance programs to help people who have been trafficked reintegrate into society.

Trey Rochford is a FAN volunteer pilot who flew his first mission in December 2022. “My first Freedom Aviation Network flight was for a survivor who had been rescued by law enforcement. Unfortunately, her trafficker evaded arrest and was actively searching for her. Had she travelled by bus, there was a significant chance she would have been caught. I was grateful to be able to provide her a safe way to escape her circumstances and get a second chance at life. Of all the flights I have made in my aviation career, none carry the life changing importance of the Freedom Aviation Network missions.”

Harmony Jones, the VP of Rescue, Rescue 1 Global said, “Working with FAN has opened doors for our survivors, for services that would have in other circumstances been out of reach.”

A recent survivor said, “Being able to receive a blessing from those who God blessed to bless me is amazing. I am so grateful for the opportunity FAN gave me to reunite with my family and make amends before my father passed away. I will never forget the gratefulness I felt for that.”

Freedom Aviation Network has a great need for volunteer pilots and the funds to help the program keep up with the expanding need. From pilots to individual or corporate sponsors to administrative volunteers, FAN needs your help.  You can sign up and be part of the rescue at https://www.freedomaviationnetwork.org/take-action-1.

[1] https://polarisproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/A-Roadmap-for-Systems-and-Industries-to-Prevent-and-Disrupt-Human-Trafficking-Transportation-Industry.pdf, page 32