The Potter's Hands Foundation - supporting women who have survived sex trafficking & sexual exploitation

Nobody should have to be told not to buy people. But we live in a world where buying people is a $150 billion industry. A world where approximately 2 people are trafficked every minute. Human trafficking is the second largest and fastest growing criminal industry in the world, second only to drug trafficking. In addition, New York is ranked 4th in the number of cases, although experts estimate that only 1% of incidents are actually reported. Further, trafficking is inherently racist, as the results of a study conducted by the Urban Institute found that traffickers believe that if they are caught trafficking black women their sentences will be shorter than if they are caught trafficking white women.

The Potter’s Hands Foundation is the only non-profit in the Finger Lakes, western New York, and the Southern Tier completely dedicated to supporting the needs of women who have survived sex trafficking, like this young woman. 

She was abused by both her birth and adoptive parents. Believing that she could fare better on her own, she left when she was 16. Street life, though, was harder than she expected, so when a friend introduced her to Tony (fictitious name), she wanted to believe his promises. She spent the next three years earning room and board by performing for Tony and his friends – at Tony’s command. An eventual arrest led her to the Potter’s Hands Foundation. With us, she developed confidence, skills, and self-awareness. Today, she lives independently and works full-time. 

Our residential facility houses 8 to 12 women at a time and is professionally staffed around the clock. While with us, our residents participate in programming that includes 24/7 care, educational classes, counseling sessions, processing sessions, transportation to appointments such as GED classes, medical appointments, additional therapy sessions and other basic needs. Ultimately, we help them peel back the layers of trauma to a place where they feel like a whole person again. By providing residents with safe and stable housing, a sense of community, food security, educational opportunities and counseling and mental health coaching sessions, we pave the path for a safer and healthier future. 

Upon graduation, our residents are employed, living independently in safe housing, continuing their healing through ongoing therapy, and in contact with us so that we can continue to help them navigate their new life.

Our mission also calls us to raise awareness about this crime. We meet with more than 1,000 members of the community and students annually to offer information and raise awareness. 

Who We Are

We believe that every person has the right to experience freedom, love, and a sense of value. It is our desire to help females who have been trapped by the oppression of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation to find wholeness, healing, and a sense of self-worth, while providing a safe place for them to grow, heal, and be free from the cruelty they have endured. In order to accomplish our goal, we have designed a safe place for women where they can begin a new season in life.

Located in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State, with beautiful hills, lakes and countryside, The Potter’s Hands Foundation provides a residential safe house environment at no cost to our residents. We are dedicated to providing a safe, secure environment in which female victims receive physical, emotional, and spiritual healing, and learn the skills necessary for self-reliance and reintegration to society. We also assist our residents in building a support network of healthy relationships with family, friends, and community.

Our overall goal is to support these women through the restoration process enabling them to become healthy and productive members of their communities. In addition, we provide referrals to and support in obtaining mental health and nutritional counseling, educational services, spiritual counseling, information and referrals on career and medical services, food and clothing, and transportation to and from medical appointments or any other appointments as deemed necessary.