Our Story

The Manasseh Project began shortly after social workers at Wedgwood Christian Services helplessly watched as a child they knew and had cared for was trafficked and exploited in Grand Rapids. Despite all their efforts to find her and offer aid, they were unable and ill equipped at the time to address her needs and trauma.

Unwilling to stand still and watch this happen again, they began to research the issue of Human Trafficking, both globally and locally, while developing relationships with anti-trafficking organizations in West Michigan, and from there The Manasseh Project began.

In Our Neighborhoods

Human Trafficking is defined as an act of recruiting, transporting, harboring or receiving a person through force or coercion, for the purpose of exploiting them. This can take on many forms, the most common of which are commercial sexual exploitation (forced prostitution) and forced labor for the financial gain of the trafficker.

The U.S. State Department estimates that for every 1,000 people in America, there are roughly 1.8 victims of human trafficking. Working from that ratio, The Manasseh Project estimates that there are nearly 2,400 human trafficking victims in West Michigan.

Our Mission

The Manasseh Project is an outreach ministry of Wedgwood Christian Services dedicated to ending the sexual exploitation of young men and women in West Michigan. Through community education and collaboration, The Manasseh Project provides support for victims of human trafficking and empowers the people of West Michigan to end modern day slavery.

Our Response

To address this growing trend in West Michigan, Wedgwood Christian Services developed The Manasseh Project, to both aid victims and educate the community on human trafficking. A public awareness campaign is essential, however, The Manasseh Project is not only a campaign.

Our mission is played out on four fronts:

• We educate social workers, educators, and members of the judicial system (judges, probation officers, police officers, etc.) on the issue of human trafficking in our community. We see these public servants as first responders.
• We empower youth to recognize human trafficking in their community through education, thus reducing their risk for victimization. We also focus on educating high-risk populations through special groups.
  
• We invite local churches, social groups, organizations, institutions of higher learning, and businesses to raise awareness and funding for anti-human trafficking programs, and we collaborate with these groups to find solutions for our community.
  
• We provide group therapy, counseling services and residential treatment and seek to open youth drop-in centers and shelters for victims in the future.