New Horizons House (NHH) began when our founder, Jonathan Spencer first became aware of the problem of sex trafficking in 2012. He was serving as Chief Operating Officer for a non-profit that was delivering clean water solutions to impoverished communities around the globe when he uncovered the shocking reality of modern-day slavery.
Jon travelled to India to learn more and to participate in an undercover sting operation which succeeded in rescuing a 12-year-old girl who was being sold by her family. It was this moving experience that prompted him to found NHH with the goal of providing comprehensive rehabilitative services to girls rescued from human trafficking and sexual abuse.
In the following years, Jon and the NHH board made multiple visits back to India where they cultivated a wide network of partnerships with other like-minded individuals and organizations. In 2015, NHH purchased 2.3 acres of land in southeastern India and subsequently raised the necessary funds to establish a state-of-the-art aftercare facility including a dormitory, dining hall, administration building, and classrooms.
New Horizons has the local resources and experience necessary to successfully administer the home and implement our holistic aftercare program in India.
CNN has reported that India is the epicenter of human trafficking and is the most dangerous country in the world to be a woman because of the high risk of sexual violence and slave labor. Traffickers continue to exploit millions of people in the commercial sex trade in India, 20% of whom are under the age of 16. Most of these underage victims are girls who come from illiterate, lower caste families. Ninety-five percent of those surveyed expressed a desire to leave the industry but felt unable to do so due to economic insecurity and/or debt bondage. Without an education or vocational skills, girls will often return to the sex trade simply to survive.
New Horizons has the local resources and experience necessary to successfully administer the home and implement our holistic aftercare program in India.
Esther
DIRECTOR
Shanna Scott
BOARD MEMBER
Rachael Eichhorn
BOARD MEMBER
Tim Hillmer
BOARD MEMBER
Andrew Smolen
BOARD MEMBER
Mike Graves
VICE PRESIDENT
SECRETARY
Katrina Zimmerman
AMBASSADOR
Lumina Albert
AMBASSADOR
Christie Spencer
AMBASSADOR
Dawn Chan Curtis
AMBASSADOR
Tess Satter
AMBASSADOR
Saprina Grant
AMBASSADOR
New Horizons’ Board has had a long-term working relationship with our in-country Administrator and other key staff members. Our counselors and mental health professionals have more than 25 years of experience working with children from disadvantaged and/or abusive backgrounds in southern India. We typically recruit teachers, vocational instructors, medical staff and house mothers from the surrounding community. All our staff receive periodic training / mentoring from key individuals with international expertise in the specific program areas in which they function.
In addition to our weekly calls and regular reporting, we make annual visits to India.
