When I started my therapy practice, RESILIENCY GROUP LLC, I had no idea I would also begin a non-profit that works to help heal the wounds of children who have been victims of sex trafficking. RESILIENCY GROUP dedicates a portion of our time helping these children.

A number of people have asked me, “what does the name, safe S.E.A.T. in the moonlight mean?” The name came to me right away and with it, a back story. I know that one particular seat saved my life after I had nowhere to go for a long weekend. I was fourteen years old.

I was blessed to live at a school that was not a boarding school, but the head of the school let me live there, along with a few other students that had come from Europe to attend this school. When the long weekend came I had no luck finding a friend to stay with. I was stuck and afraid.

At the start of the long weekend, I took a train and arrived at Grand Central Station with nothing. Many years ago Grand Central looked very different. There were long rows of benches but there were dividers for seats. The bench was solid dark polished wood, but the best part was that the seat partitions came up high enough to cover my head.

I will never forget when I slid into one of those seats. There I was, a child, alone, and with nothing; but the instant I sat in that seat I felt safe. It was almost like the seat had arms that wrapped around me, and the terror I felt was eased. I crossed my legs and placed my arms on the armrests of the seat and just sat. I felt nothing could harm me as long as I was in this seat.

Most of the ugly things that were done to me took place at night. When I lived at home, the beginning of the night brought me feelings of desperation; and then after a while, I felt numb. 

Safe S.E.A.T, was the safety I had always been looking for and found that weekend in that big wooden seat. The moonlight is the time that feels the least safe for children that have been exploited, abused, and neglected.

The name symbolizes everything I want for children that have been victims of the disgraceful crime of child sex trafficking and exploitation. These children need a safe seat to be when everything around them becomes dark.