A North Carolina couple are scheduled to open up the first safe house in the United States for sex trafficked boys.
Chris and Anna Smith did not set out to be trailblazers, but when they opened Restore One ministry in 2012 they were asked to consider taking in boys.
"That wasn't something we wanted to pioneer," Anna Smith told World News Service.
Anna is a sex trafficking survivor and after interning at Hope House, a safe house in Asheville, North Carolina, she wanted to take in girls. But she learned about the plight of boys coming out of trafficking.
"There are no places that boys can go," said Tina Frudt, human trafficking survivor and founder of Courtney's House.
A study by The John Jay College and the Center for Court Innovation estimated that in 2008, as high as 50 percent of the commercially sexually exploited (CSE) children in the United States were boys.
There are little to no residential treatment facilities for these boys.
"That's when we said yes to boys," Anna said.
After a year's search, the couple bought 10 acres in Greenville, N.C., near the Greene-Pitt County line.
The Smiths built the facility, a 4,430-square-foot, two-story main building and a 1,639-square-foot cottage. Financed through private donors, Anchor House is currently debt free.
"Who does that? Only God," Anna said, adding she has seen God work in adversity to accomplish His plans.
"Looking back, I am grateful for the heartache of this journey. God was moving us at His own pace, growing us, and maturing us," she said.
Anchor House is set to open in late 2016. The Smiths are working to raise an additional $400,000 to cover the costs of running the facility.
"There is always another faith journey," Anna said. "This is just one more wait in faith."
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