TAMPA, Fla. — After the arrests have been made, law enforcement agencies in our area often look to organizations and advocates to help human trafficking victims.
One of those advocates is Nancy Hernandez.
Hernandez has quietly worked with thousands of women over the years to help them get back on their feet and live a life of independence.
“I have the opportunity, and I have to thank God for that,” Hernandez said. “Because I'm alive. Able to do this.”
Hernandez has been working with human trafficking victims for 17 years now, helping them restore what has too often been taken from them.
“First, your identity,” she says. “Then, your principles. And your life.”
Part of the reason Hernandez understands as well as she does — and is as effective as she is — is because she, herself, is a survivor of human trafficking.
“It was very difficult,” she says. “You lose your sense of self. You lose your identity. You lose a lot. And it's a difficult situation being put in. And being forced to do things that, you know, were not right.”
Over the years, Hernandez has worked with somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 women.
At first, she networked with local ministries. Now, she runs her own advocacy center along Tampa’s Nebraska Avenue.
There’s a chapel and a food bank, a safe place for other trafficking victims to find counseling and resources.
Now, they're expanding — adding a clinic so they can soon offer free basic medical services as well.
The Tampa Police Department, recognizing Hernandez’s contributions, recently awarded her a $5,000 grant.
“She is a huge asset. She has done so much,” TPD Chief Lee Bercaw said. “Whether it is giving food, whether It's helping out, whether it's meetings, medical, you name it. Miss Nancy is just a blessing to our city.”
Hernandez is now 62 years old. She says she is committed to working with the community as long as she possibly can to ensure that the women she cares for have the resources that they need.
“My goal is that the day I am not here that the women that I have helped restore are able to continue what I've done here and bring in the new generation of girls that need help," she said.
This year, Hernandez is planning to use contributions, including the grant from TPD, to expand the food bank, and the medical clinic is scheduled to open on Jan. 19.