Tennessee nonprofit offers hope from the skies for human trafficking survivors

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Middle Tennessee nonprofit is working to stop human trafficking one flight at a time.

Freedom Aviation Network has given almost 200 flights to survivors needing to get away from their situations. Although the organization started in Middle Tennessee, it now has 188 volunteer pilots spanning across 39 states.

“One of my favorite quotes is, ‘When I got on the aircraft, in the air, in the clouds, I knew that he could not touch me anymore,'” Freedom Aviation Network co-founder Jared Miller said.

According to Miller, human trafficking cases are often closer than we may realize. In Middle Tennessee alone, Freedom Aviation Network is seeing five to 10 requests a month to transport someone or bring them to the Volunteer State for services.

“We’re seeing more survivors being able to come out of their situation because they know transportation exists to get them as far away from here as possible,” Miller said.

Back in December, the nonprofit even helped the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) with a sting operation in Nashville involving more than 20 victims. However, only six accepted help.

“These were foreign nationals who were brought over under the pretense of legal work visas, to work in certain motels,” Miller said. “And then when they got here, the traffickers used the promise of their work visas to coerce them into sexual servitude within those hotels.”

Here’s how it works: advocates or case workers from counter-human trafficking agencies can reach out to Freedom Aviation Network and request a flight for a survivor. Then, pilots donate their time, planes, and fuel to help get the victim to a resource center somewhere else in the country. The organization has also transported survivors with their children.

Volunteer pilot and board member Trey Rochford recalled one of his first flights. The survivor he transported will share her story at an upcoming event at the Tennessee Governor’s Residence.

“She called me ‘Pilot Trey.’ She said that I was very kind to her, and it was the first time in as long as she could remember that someone treated her really like a person, and she knew that things were going to be okay at that point,” Rochford said.

The organization has some hurdles with nonprofits not wanting to reach out “too much” or rely on these costly resources too often. To that, co-founder Stephanie Lamar encourages them to instead reach out every time.

“[It’s] just a miracle that we’ve always had a pilot to do every flight, and that’s just unusual given the volume of flights that we had so quickly starting with two pilots,” Lamar said.

The organization continues to look for more pilots, as well as volunteers for nearly any position a business would need to operate.

“You’re elevated into this new status of love and belonging and freedom that you’ve never experienced before, and you’re taken to this new place. We’re seeing a clear psychological change in the way that survivors are thinking about exiting their situation,” Miller said.

On Thursday, Sept. 19, Freedom Aviation Network will hold an event at the Governor’s Mansion, which will include a survivor sharing her story. The event is free to attend, but you must first RSVP on the nonprofit’s website .

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