TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — It’s not something that just happens in the movies or overseas.  Human trafficking is a very real problem right here in the Tampa Bay area.

“This is happening in our own backyard, it’s not just in Ybor, or in other specific areas,  it’s happening all over, on Kennedy, it’s happening on Dale Mabry,” said Jillian Penhale, who heads up the non-profit Created.

Penhale points out that Tampa has more strip clubs per capita than in any other part of the U.S., creating an atmosphere for women to get trapped in the sex trade industry, many with a man controlling them behind the scene.

“There’s a pimp and there’s a trafficker. It’s huge online. Women being bought and sold online and children,” Penhale explained.

Penhale and a team form Created head out into the streets of Tampa Bay trying to help women trapped in the sex industry against their will.  The non-profit that has been in Tampa for 10 years now then give the women a safe place to live, job skills and counseling.

“They go through trauma therapy, they go through group counseling, they have support groups, they are learning boundaries – assertiveness all those skills they need to move forward in life,” said Penhale.

Created also has an onsite consignment boutique and an area where the women learn to make and package soaps and scrubs as part of job skill training.

After graduating the program, many women come back to lend a helping hand to those trying to break away from trafficking, because they know how it feels to be that beaten down.

“People not caring, people just looking at you like an object – and not caring if you’re alive or you’re not. And, coming here and knowing you are someone – you are worth something,” said LaAysha Neal, a graduate of Created.

Lives are being changed, one at a time at the small not for profit and being on the front lines is what makes Jillian Penhale a Gr8 Inspiration.

“Every graduation from drug treatment, every person that gets into college, every small victory you get to see that every day, and it keeps us going,” said Penhale.

Created is always in need of clothing donations, toiletries and of course monetary donations.  You can contact them directly if you would  like to be part of the change. Learn more about Created here.

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