St. Clair Co. nonprofit adding new therapy offices to help survivors of human trafficking

ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Ala. (WBRC) - A nonprofit in St. Clair County is laying the foundation to better help survivors of human trafficking.

“Imagine that you have been through the most horrific things imaginable, quite frankly, ever since childhood, because just about every survivor of human trafficking that comes to the WellHouse, they were first victimized as children,” says Carolyn Potter, who serves as the CEO of The WellHouse, which houses and treats survivors of human trafficking.

Potter says therapy is a vital component of the nonprofits programs, and it should also be confidential. The WellHouse recently broke ground on a new building that will house, among other things, four new counseling offices.

“Everything from EMDR to microcurrent neuro feedback, and we offer all of that through our WellHouse staff,” Potter says.

Potter says in the past, they’ve offered therapy within the houses the women live in on-site, and that the new building will change the dynamic of those sessions for the better.

“It’s a good idea because it’s separate from all the other homes, because therapy is separate, it just looks very differently than everything else that we offer so we’re very excited and of course our therapists are excited as well, says Potter.

While the new building still has a long way to go before being completed, Potter says its not stopping them from laying the foundation for even more new improvements.

“Our next plan is to increase the beds at our stabilization center so that we can become a true crisis center, and we can receive people, do their assessments, and then either send them on to our treatment phase of our program,” she says.

Once The WellHouse receives the proper permits from St. Clair County, the rest of the construction work will begin. Potter says they expect to have the new building completed by the beginning of next year.

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