![\"1454009221_Ileana_Taylor.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/1454009221_Ileana_Taylor.jpg\")
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January 28, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n Helping over 180 clients and counseling more than 1, 000 other individuals affected by trafficking last year, Safe Horizon\u2019s Anti-Trafficking Program<\/a> (ATP) is spearheading the charge against human trafficking in and around New York City.<\/p>\n At ATP, we give survivors the chance to speak to a compassionate, expert case manager. Each case manager personally guides their client in obtaining critical resources to get back on their feet. Ileana Taylor is one of these inspirational ATP staff members and has been advocating for trafficking survivors as a case manager since 1999.<\/p>\n Although a typical day for Ileana consists of a variety of tasks, she dedicates most of her time to helping trafficking survivors navigate complex systems to obtain vital resources and find hope and safety. This ranges from connecting clients to resources such as emergency housing to accompanying them to appointments at public benefit offices and federal agencies.<\/p>\n Ileana also supports her clients work through their legal issues with ATP\u2019s onsite staff attorneys and writes support letters for T-Visa applications. A T-Visa allows survivor of human trafficking to stay and work in the U.S. Without these vital documents, they could experience further violence when returning to their native home.<\/p>\n ATP case managers like Ileana manage 35-40 cases per year and play a crucial role in helping survivors of human trafficking rebuild their lives.<\/p>\n Ileana became passionate about fighting for human rights while living through a period of unrest in her native Guatemala. Inspired by people who have overcome trafficking, she decided to dedicate her career to helping more people affected by this horrendous crime.<\/p>\n She moved to the United States to pursue a better life. After earning her Associates in Mental Health from Warwick Community College, Ileana began working at ATP as a case manager. She later went on to receive both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Adelphi University in addition to a certificate from New York University in Trauma Counseling.<\/p>\n Case managers like Ileana make an impact in the lives of their clients by linking them to resources they need including:<\/p>\n \u201cWhen people who have experienced human trafficking come in they feel at a loss, but by the end of the meeting, they become empowered,\u201d<\/em> Ileana explains.<\/p>\n Ileana loves giving the clients a new sense of hope while providing them with support. She is grateful for the opportunity to be able to help survivors of human trafficking “regain their dignity and humanity.”<\/em><\/p>\n Ileana also wants to raise awareness of the issue and show how, “trafficking can and does happen everywhere,”<\/em> so we can be more conscious of it and therefore put an end to it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our Anti-Trafficking Program gives survivors the chance to speak to a compassionate, expert case manager like Ileana Taylor who dedicates her time to helping trafficking survivors obtain vital resources and find hope and safety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":{"id":1392,"alt_text":"","caption":"","description":"","media_type":"image","media_details":{"width":630,"height":420,"file":"2016\/06\/1454009221_Ileana_Taylor.jpg","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"1454009221_Ileana_Taylor-150x150.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","ewww_image_optimizer":"jpegtran<\/em> is missing","source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/1454009221_Ileana_Taylor-150x150.jpg"},"medium":{"file":"1454009221_Ileana_Taylor-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","ewww_image_optimizer":"jpegtran<\/em> is missing","source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/1454009221_Ileana_Taylor-300x200.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]},"ewww_image_optimizer":"jpegtran<\/em> is missing"},"post":1391,"source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/1454009221_Ileana_Taylor.jpg"},"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2015],"tags":[133,191],"class_list":["post-1391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-safe-blog","tag-human-trafficking","tag-ileana-taylor","issue-human-trafficking"],"acf":{"page_header_excerpt":"Our Anti-Trafficking Program gives survivors the chance to speak to a compassionate, expert case manager like Ileana Taylor who dedicates her time to helping trafficking survivors obtain vital resources and find hope and safety.","related_initiative_link":"\/anti-trafficking-program\/","original_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/page\/ileana-taylor-an-anti-trafficking-advocate-445.html","page_header_title":"","page_header_image":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/silhouette_hero_image.png","related_initiative_title":"What is ATP?","related_initiative_link_text":"Learn about our Anti-Trafficking Program","featured_posts":[{"ID":1361,"post_author":"12","post_date":"2014-06-18 00:00:00","post_date_gmt":"2014-06-18 00:00:00","post_content":"Read how Medicaid helps survivors like Angela access trauma-focused treatment.<\/a>\r\n\r\nIleana\u2019s Role as a Case Manager<\/h2>\n
Inspired to Help Human Trafficking Survivors<\/h2>\n
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![\"1438625987_Angela_Human_Trafficking.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/1438625987_Angela_Human_Trafficking.jpg\")
\r\n\r\nGrowing up in a\u00a0small village in Latin America, *Angela had big dreams of becoming a famous writer. Sadly, her family struggled to make ends meet and she had to leave school at a young age to help support her nine brothers and sisters.\r\n\r\nAngela thought all hope was lost until one day she heard about an opportunity to continue her education while working in the home of a family who was moving from the village to the United States.\u00a0They promised Angela that they would help her enroll in night classes if she worked as their housekeeper Monday through Friday, nine to five.\r\n\r\nAfter months of convincing her parents, Angela finally got the chance to make her dreams come true. But she would soon discover it was actually a nightmare; she was tricked into becoming a labor trafficking victim.<\/strong>\r\nSuffering Labor Trafficking<\/h2>\r\nFor three years, Angela was paid roughly 30 cents an hour to work 12 hours straight, seven days a week. She cooked, cleaned, cared for two infants and an elderly parent, while also being responsible for all of the household maintenance, including preparing large meals for many guests.\r\n\r\nShe was forced to sleep on a mattress in the family\u2019s kitchen, was not allowed out of the house, and endured constant threats, verbal abuse and intimidation.\r\n
A Way Out: Escaping Human Trafficking\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nThe abuse continued until a friend of the family spoke to Angela and sensed fear in her voice. This prompted the family friend to alert authorities who called U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security <\/a>Investigation (HSI) tip line. The ICE assigned a Victim Witness Specialist to her case who sent out officers to investigate and\u00a0rescue Angela from the abusive environment.\r\n\r\nThe Victim Witness Specialist knew about how Safe Horizon\u2019s Anti-Trafficking Program<\/a> (ATP)\u00a0supports and advocates on behalf of victims of human trafficking by providing:\r\n