Every year, tens or even hundreds of thousands of Americans are trafficked and exploited, with many sold for sex. It’s a multibillion-dollar criminal industry, second only to the trade in illegal drugs.

For teen girls who are forced to appear in porn films, work in illicit massage parlors or serve as prostitutes in hotels and homes, recovery can be tough.

Sarah’s Home, a licensed nonprofit Christian residential home for girls ages 12 to 17, offers “healing, education, restoration, and reintegration for survivors of the forced commercial sex trade.”

The Peyton home was founded in 2013 by the Rocky Mountain Ministry Network of Colorado and Utah, which is affiliated with the Assemblies of God, a 110-year-old Pentecostal denomination.

Vicky Proffitt, who has served as the group’s executive director since 2015, says she was drawn to the work “because these girls have holes in their hearts,” they’re “vulnerable,” and they’ve experienced “so many layers of brokenness.”

Proffitt said she first realized children were being trafficked for sex while traveling overseas. Back home, she realized the enormity of the problem in the U.S. and was “determined to do something about it.”

She had spent 13 years leading Teen Challenge House of Promise, a faith-based drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility in Olathe on the Western slope, when she was asked to lead Sarah’s Home.

‘We pray for them, too’

Sarah’s Home works with the FBI, courts and local law enforcement and serves girls from across the country who buy into its Christian values. Sarah’s Home also requires that victims’ parents participate in the rehabilitation, even if parents were involved in the trafficking. Parents receive training about trafficking every other month.

The goal is physical, mental, behavioral and spiritual health, and programs include equine therapy, arts and crafts, dance and music lessons. In addition to individual and family therapy, they also receive training in life skills and job skills.

“We pray for them, too,” says Proffitt.

Sarah’s Home has its own on-site accredited school, Aspire Academy, and girls can also register for classes at Pikes Peak State College. After graduating from high school, many of the girls receive scholarships to continue their education.

Girls who earn the privileges can attend a local church if they wish, and some participate in programs at Summit Ministries in Manitou Springs.

Proffitt says success happens when the girls’ emotions stabilize, allowing them to “laugh when they should laugh, and cry when they should cry.” For some girls, a sign of success is deciding to remove the tattoos that were etched on their skin by their pimps or abusers.

Proffitt long has cared for hurting people. She and her husband have served as foster parents for intensive therapy foster children who have histories of trauma and need one-on-one care for their emotional and behavioral needs.

“I’m a builder,” she says. “That’s my giftedness.”

Proffitt has helped build a stable base of donors — including individuals, churches, and other nonprofits — that contribute to the ministry’s budget, which was $711,137 in 2023.

Growing interest in victims of trafficking

Proffitt says the number of teens being trafficked has grown, as has interest in helping victims since last year’s release of the popular movie “Sound of Freedom,” which stars Jim Caviezel as Tim Ballard, the controversy-plagued anti–child trafficking crusader from Utah.

(Ballard left the nonprofit Operation Underground Railroad amid an internal investigation shortly before the film released and has since been sued for sexual assault.)

The work at Sarah’s Home is done by 13 full- and part-time employees as well as volunteers, who undergo rigorous screening and training.

Every three months, Proffitt leads a daylong training for community members who are interested in knowing more about trafficking and doing something about it. The next training will be held 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 5 at Friendship Assembly of God in the Springs. Registration is at sarahshome.us.

And after 15 years working with girls, Sarah’s Home is preparing to launch Daniel’s Academy, a residential home for sex trafficked boys, who account for about a third of teen sex trafficking. A facility has been purchased in Lake County for a planned January opening.

Proffitt says Daniel’s Academy will be the nation’s first residential home for sex-trafficked teen boys.

“There is hope for every story,” she says.