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'We're here to help': Trafficking survivor supports community as resource center executive director

BRATTLEBORO — Jean Marie Davis may not be a well-known name around town, she actually lives in New Hampshire. But she has an incredible story to tell.

Davis is a mother, a 20-year survivor of human trafficking, and the executive director of Branches Pregnancy Resource Center at 26 Birge St. in Brattleboro.

Branches is a non-medical, non-profit, faith-based organization founded in 1985. As a pregnancy resource center, Branches specializes in providing information, referrals and to mothers and fathers in need. All services are of charge, following the motto, “we do life with each other,” a phrase that Davis values and lives by.

Davis's story is one unlike any other. For 20 years, Davis was trafficked across 33 states. Eight years before becoming director of Branches, she was a client in a pregnancy resource center herself.

“If you know anything about human trafficking, it's that the traffickers will threaten their ‘products' — we are called products; we are not called women — to stay because we make their money,” said Davis.

Before she was a client at a resource center, Davis recalled a distressing situation she encountered with a pregnant woman.

“One night, I was being sent out to make money for my trafficker, and a woman I trafficked with was pregnant. Her trafficker did not care she was due. His focus was the money. He gave her some drugs and sent her out. When we left the motel about five to 10 minutes later, she gave birth to her baby on the sidewalk, cut the umbilical cord, and continued to walk in hopes of making money. She knew not making money meant her receiving bruises.

“I could not help or do anything because my trafficker would have punished me,” Davis said. “When I got away from my traffickers, I became homeless in a domestic violence shelter in New Hampshire. The shelter told me about a Pregnancy Resource Center, which was a Christian faith-based organization. Being raised as Jehovah's Witness, I didn't care. I needed help.

“My first time at the center was the best experience ever. The first thing they asked was how can we help you? At that point, I broke down and cried. They provided me with clothes. They then asked how far along I was and what my plans were.”

The Brattleboro Reformer recently sat down with Davis at the Birge Street facility and conducted a short interview.

When entering the center, clients check themselves in at the main lobby. To the right is a boutique stocked with baby and maternity clothes, toys, diapers and formula. Further down is an office, a parenting classroom, and a room where clients can receive free pregnancy tests opposite a client-exclusive bathroom.

Upstairs, in Davis's office, we asked her about how she found Branches, her life experiences, and her mission to help others. Here, in a question-and-answer format, is our conversation:

Q: Tell us about Branches, how did you come to be here, and what do you stand for?

Branches has actually been existing since December of 1985. Our motto is that “we do life with each other.” So we're here as a pregnancy resource center. Yes, we provide pregnancy tests. But we also focus on how we can help the community. I've made it a point that our center is like the central hub, where if you need something, whatever it may be, we're here to help you and point you in the direction that you need to go.

We are exploring new services to help parents, children and families and exploring ways to connect to the different services in Brattleboro. Right now, we're exploring and trying to connect with the homeless shelter and Groundworks and other places in the community.

So how did I ? There was an application going out last year for a director's position, and it just happened across my hands. Somebody referred me here, I applied, and that's how I came about. Initially, my resource center helped me, and I want to help the next person.

Q: There is a perception about resource centers that once a patient walks in, they are cornered and pressured, but this was not your experience. Could you elaborate?

A lot of people don't understand that we are a faith-based organization, we are Christians, and we do believe in Jesus. With that being said, though, it doesn't matter who or what you are, and what's going on. It's if you need help, we're here to help you. And that's where the misconception is. A lot of people think that we're here to push an agenda, but we're not.

I've spoken to different people in Brattleboro. I've explained to them we're here to be a resource; we're not here to push an agenda. We do make it known to everyone that, yes, we are Christians, so we're not hiding what we are. However, if you need our help, you will receive it. It's almost like if somebody was bleeding, you would help them, regardless of what you believe in, and that's the same approach that we have here.

Q: Are there any other deterrents that lead people away from resource centers?

I think also that, especially for men, they see the word pregnancy, and they automatically think, “oh, they are only going to help out women.” Well, I am a single mother, and yeah, I do support men and we're here to help them as well. Sometimes men don't think that we can help them, but we can.

Q: You stated that you did not want to keep your son if he was born a girl because you did not want her to experience what you went through. Knowing now of the help you received, would you have decided otherwise?

I would have if I knew almost 10 years ago of the help that I was going to receive. I was just leaving human trafficking at that moment and going through the traumatic things in my life. I didn't want to have another person go through that, and that's where my mindset was at that time.

Q: What can mothers who face a similar struggle learn from your situation?

That there's a support system that's out there. I think that's where a lot of people don't understand we're here to support people, you know, doing life with each other. That's a big statement because that means we're willing to walk with you, however, that may look.

Q: How do pro-choice Vermonters receive the resource center and the services provided here?

Well, it's just like in any place, right? We get both the good and bad. So honestly, what I've seen in the last three months is a lot of people receiving us because I've gone to people and said that we're here to help, and I don't think they've actually ever heard that in the community before. We're not here to push that agenda. Everybody knows that we're pro-life, but I don't think anyone has actually heard that we're here to help.

Q: What is it like in Vermont to hold conservative values both professionally and personally as an African American woman?

I take this position with honor. I take it with honor because regardless of being an African American woman, at the end of the day, I was a woman that needed help. I think sometimes people put a spin, or they put a stereotype of “oh, this is what it's supposed to be.” I bleed the same way the next person bleeds. I put on my pants the same way the next person does.

To be here in Brattleboro as the director of what you would call a conservative organization does the complete opposite of what is being spoken about. But at the end of the day, I'm not here to prove anything to anybody. I'm just here to be a helping hand.

I think sometimes people forget that everybody bleeds the same way and everybody needs help someway, somehow. So, when you get past all that, “oh, she's a woman, and oh, she's African American,” and you just see that the genuineness is real, and we're here to support you. I think more people would receive it easier.

Q: How does your son serve as an inspiration?

Well, my son's name means new beginnings. His name is Jonah, and every time I look at my son, he reminds me of how my life is really just a new beginning. That I don't have to worry about how I am going to make money, where am I going to live, or if I will make my trafficker mad. When I look at my son, it's like, wow, I get to raise my son.

My son wants to be a pastor, he loves to draw, and he loves to make music. He has a 4.0., he just did the spelling bee, and he's in the second grade.

Some people don't understand that when you've had things taken away from you, and when things in your life have been so traumatic that you weren't able to experience a childhood, that now to sit down as a mother now and say, “my son doesn't have to go through what I went through,” I think is what people miss out on — not having to go through what you and your family went through.

Closing thoughts

When asked if she had any closing remarks, Davis again reassured her support and offered help to anyone in need.

“The only thing I would say is that if you need help, whatever help that may look like, come by us, come see us. If we do not have the resources, then and there, we'll find a way to help you get the resources. We don't have everything, but if we don't have it, we'll find somebody who does.”

This “Eyes on Trafficking” story is reprinted from its original location.

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ABOUT PBJ LEARNING

PBJ Learning is a leading provider of online human trafficking training, focusing on awareness and prevention education. Their interactive Human Trafficking Essentials is used worldwide to educate professionals and individuals how to recognize human trafficking and how to respond to potential victims. Learn on any web browser (even your mobile phone) at any time.

More stories like this can be found in your PBJ Learning Knowledge Vault.

 

EYES ON TRAFFICKING

This “Eyes on Trafficking” story is reprinted from its original online location.

ABOUT PBJ LEARNING

PBJ Learning is a leading provider of online human trafficking training, focusing on awareness and prevention education. Their interactive Human Trafficking Essentials online course is used worldwide to educate professionals and individuals how to recognize human trafficking and how to respond to potential victims. Learn on any web browser (even your mobile phone) at any time.

More stories like this can be found in your PBJ Learning Knowledge Vault.