Selah Freedom helps save the lives of hundreds women in the Bay area who are sold as sex slaves.
The organization will soon have a store that will help fund their programs and give victims a place to showcase their talents.
Vanessa Morris, whose mother was sold into sex trafficking, works with the organization and has helped prepare the store for its grand opening.
“She looks happy here,” Vanessa Morris said as she looked at a picture of her mother. "In a lot of the pictures she is smiling, even though I know that deep down she was hurting badly inside.”
Morris’s childhood is filled with these memories. Her mother was molested as a child and later in life, sold into sex trafficking. A life Morris remembers all too well.
“A lot of times I was very fearful. Just because the atmosphere that we were living in a lot of times it would be in and out of hotels,” said Morris.
Her mother passed away three years ago. To deal with the pain and help others Morris started working at Selah Freedom, a Bay area organization that houses, protects, councils and teaches victims of sex trafficking.
"When I see them (victims) gain victory and really get healed and restored and have a new beginning it’s like seeing my mom have that sort of victory as well," Morris said.
The Selah Vie retail store is scheduled to open later this summer at 3510 53rd Ave West in Bradenton.