Phoenix Starfish Place: First Step to a Fresh Start
It’s estimated there are about 3,000 women a year sex trafficked in Maricopa County.
“The youngest victims that we know of in Maricopa County are six, and the oldest victim we have served is 67 so it’s a big problem and we have lots of people who need support and services,” said Professor Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, Director of the ASU Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research. She played a pivotal role in establishing Phoenix Starfish Place with the City of Phoenix, which provides housing and supportive services to female sex trafficking survivors and their minor children.
“Phoenix Starfish Place is a beautiful facility that has 15 apartments that are two and three bedrooms,” Zona Pacheco, City of Phoenix Housing Supportive Services Manager, explained. “The residents are provided with a very safe, connected environment”.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Health Choice funding is helping to meet the crisis needs of the residents and furnish the apartments so they can feel at home.
“We are very excited to receive funding from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Health Choice, this gift is a game-changer for us,” Dr. Roe-Sepowitz said. “Our residents often come from shelters and places where they don’t have the things they need to live independently. They don’t have beds, couches, dishes, or anything. Our goal with this incredible gift is to help these women heal from the trauma they’ve experienced.”
“These survivors deserve a fresh start,” Dr. Heather Carter, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Health Choice CEO added. “We want to give back to these women and their families, break the cycle of exploitation, and inspire hope and health.”
‘There is nothing else like it in the country’
Pacheco said Phoenix Starfish Place is a one-of-a-kind community that has just about anything you could think of like a computer room, group room, a community kitchen, and outdoor play space. Beyond housing and community living, Phoenix Starfish Place is centered around programs that help survivors heal, rebuild their lives, manage money, and thrive independently.
“Our residents are required to attend two mandatory program nights a week and they get to choose,” said Stefanie Calens, Community Engagement Liaison for the ASU Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research. “Art therapy is one of the favorites.”
Programs are implemented based on their input.
“We met with many survivors of trafficking as we developed the program,” Dr. Roe-Sepowitz added. “We have survivors who run groups and provide support and mentoring. The key element is that lived experience. If you can see someone recover and survive and thrive, you can do it too.”
Phoenix Starfish Place caps residents’ monthly rent at 30% of their gross income. Half of the rent goes into an escrow account, so they have savings when they graduate. Residents typically stay at Phoenix Starfish Place for the allotted two years.
“This isn’t just a landing pad; it’s a launching pad,” Calens said. “Most of our residents don’t yet have wings when they come to us, but by the time they leave, they’re able to fly.”
Phoenix Starfish Place changed Rebecca’s life
“Drugs and prostitution are what got me here and I was lost in my addiction,” Rebecca, a former resident, said. “At Phoenix Starfish Place, they love you until you can love yourself and support you on anything you could possibly think of – the mentoring program really helped me.”
Rebecca teared up talking about how the community protected her young daughter and made her feel like she wasn’t alone.
“It was comforting to know there were others who had been through stuff like me,” she said. “We could all agree on one thing – we wanted to change, and this was the place to do it.”
While at Phoenix Starfish Place, Rebecca went to college and is now working to become a dog-groomer, and said she reconnected with her family. Her success story is one of many. Since opening in 2017, Dr. Roe-Sepowitz said they’ve worked with 38 moms and 56 children.
“About 90% of them have successfully moved into their own apartments or homes, found employment, stayed off substances, and really worked on their recovery and healing from trauma,” she continued. “And then their children, who are at the highest risk for trafficking, are not then trafficked. We are really preventing that intergenerational transmission of trauma.”
And if you’re wondering where the name Starfish Place came from...
“It’s named after a poem, about a girl walking down the beach and there are hundreds of starfish that have been washed up from a storm,” Dr. Roe-Sepowitz explained. “This little girl is throwing one starfish in the water at a time. A lady comes up and says, ‘why does it matter to you?’ The girl picks up a starfish and says, ‘it matters to this one.’ We feel that very deeply at Phoenix Starfish Place. We care about each and every resident, and their impact on the world.”