COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A first-of-its-kind housing unit is opening this Friday in Columbus.

“This 52-unit project is more than bricks and mortar, more than bricks and sticks,” Assistant Senate Minority Leader Hearcel Craig (D-Columbus) said.  

It is a $15.6 million investment, with $10.6 million of the investment coming from the healthcare company CVS/Aetna, which created a new 52-unit housing community for survivors of human trafficking called Harriet’s Hope.

“Survivors of human trafficking cannot improve their overall health without wellbeing, without stable access to quality housing,” anti-human trafficking administrator at CVS/Aetna Latasha Brown said.  

“Your trafficker probably got you addicted to drugs, made you dependent on him for shelter, for food, for medical care, your whole world is that trafficker,” Attorney General Dave Yost (R-Ohio) said. “Boom, he goes away, goes to prison where he belongs, now what? What happens to you?”

Yost said Harriet’s Hope answers that question, creating reliable housing for families with someone who survived human trafficking. Harriet’s Hope is set up for families; Yost said most other shelters are not.  

“I’m hoping that we learn a lot of lessons here that allow this to be replicated over and over again in Cleveland, in Cincinnati, in Toledo, in Dayton,” Yost said.  

According to Yost’s office, Ohio ranks among the top ten states for the number of calls made to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Yost said while this work is a step in the right direction, there is more to be done across the state.  

Yost said there are collateral barriers to human trafficking. He said if you are a survivor, you probably have a criminal record with offenses like theft, drug abuse and solicitation.  

“Those criminal convictions can hold you back from being able to get an apartment, get a job, go to school, get a degree,” Yost said. “There’s more we can do to help our returning citizens prosper and thrive in our society.”

Craig agreed that more could be done. He said affordable housing needs to be available for all communities.  

“The truth is, the issue of secure, safe and affordable housing is a statewide issue,” Craig said. “We must continue the momentum from projects such as Harriet’s Hope and work together to address the housing crisis facing all our communities.” 

There is legislation at the statehouse to increase penalties for drug and human trafficking. That bill has its sixth House committee meeting Tuesday morning.  

“At the end of the day, this takes everything,” Yost said. “It takes a soft heart, but it also takes a spine of steel to hold people accountable for the evil that they do.”