Although human trafficking is a phenomenon that many see as a distant problem, it is happening at a substantial rate right here in Chicago. For a while, in fact, Chicago has been ranked as one of the cities with the highest rates of human trafficking, and earlier this year, 101 would-be sex-buyers from Cook County were arrested in a national sex trafficking sting operation.

Izabel Olson, mother of senior Gabe Olson, is the founder of the nonprofit Salt and Light Coalition. Her goal for participants, she said, is “to finish the program as empowered women who are independent and free.”

Olson’s inspiration for the organization came when she realized how many women are trafficked. “When I was working at the Cook County jail as a yoga instructor and while I was working with the women, after a few years there, I found out that 70% of them were in jail because they had been trafficked,” Olson said. “What happens is that a lot of times the women either go to jail with crimes related to the trafficking or they are there for prostitution.” The trafficker, Olson said, is very rarely caught for various reasons. “I felt like that was absurd, and I just wanted to do something about it,” she said, “so that it why I started Salt and Light Coalition.”

Participants, all female survivors of sex trafficking, meet twice a week for three hours. During this time, Olson and other practitioners lead them in various healing exercises. Olson has a Ph.D. in learning sciences from Northwestern University and a background in the health and wellness sector.

Aside from the services that Salt and Light provides these women, they are also given ten dollars an hour in stipends and a CTA bus card. During the first six months of the program, the goal is to expose the women to self practices that will be healing. “Usually, yoga and self care practices are seen as luxury,” Olson said, “but in reality, everyone should have access to them.”

“It is extremely difficult for survivors of trafficking to share their experiences, especially since many suffer from severe PTSD,” sophomore Senna Gardner said, “but at the same time, it is very important and beneficial to talk about their experiences.”

Even after these women were out of the vicious cycle of trafficking, Olson came to understand, many suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and did not have the mental or physical resources that they needed and deserved. When women have been trafficked since the age of 10 or 12, Olson said, by the time they are 30 or 40, they have most likely developed serious PTSD or other mental health problems.

The self-healing practices Salt and Light offers include trauma-sensitive yoga, meditation, fitness, and nutrition.

During the second sixth months of the program, participants begin job training, which allows them to enter a field of their choice within the Health and Wellness industry. This is achievable because of the partnerships that Salt and Light has formed. For example, participants can become yoga teachers because Salt and Light Coalition is a registered yoga school. Additionally, participants can become Certified Nursing Assistants because of the contracts that Salt and Light has with City Colleges of Chicago. Salt and Light Coalition has also made connections with various business in the food industry, and will pay for participants’ handlers permits, which allow them to become cooks.

Salt and Light Coalition has a lot in mind for the future. First off, although they will be keeping their post-trafficking program going, they are excited to be expanding the organization into anti- trafficking as well. Olson said, “We want to stop trafficking before it begins.” To help accomplish this goal, they are going to be starting a summer camp in Chicago for girls who are especially at risk for sex trafficking.

At-risk girls include girls coming from families with lower incomes and girls with behavioral problems. Such girls will engage in various activites that teach them about leadership as well as health, wellness, and coping strategies. Olson said, “The goal is to show them that they can be great leaders and have great outcomes.” The summer camp will focus on CPS students.

Senior Genesis Martinez, a summer intern at Salt and Light Coalition, said, “What initially interested me about Salt and Light Coalition and makes me continue to love it is that it is Chicago based.”