The Safe Exit Initiative Expands to Baltimore, Launches Outreach Program
May 13, 2025
Baltimore, MD & Worcester, MA — The Safe Exit Initiative (SEI) is proud to announce the official launch of Harbor Baltimore, a comprehensive harm reduction and outreach program designed to support people with living/lived experience in the sex trade in Baltimore, Maryland. SEI has successfully operated a similar program in Worcester, Massachusetts since 2014. Baltimore was prioritized for program expansion because it ranks among the top cities in the country for human trafficking.
Harbor Baltimore first debuted services on February 14, 2025 with direct street outreach, providing harm reduction and personal hygiene supplies three times per week in the Wilkens, Park Heights, and Morrell Park neighborhoods. In addition to street outreach, a newly established partnership with U Empower of Maryland (UEmpower) will allow SEI to begin setting up a drop-in center in the Carrollton Ridge neighborhood. SEI currently provides services at this location in conjunction with UEmpower’s Food Project program. In addition to their partnership with UEmpower, SEI is actively collaborating with the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) for strategic service provision throughout the city.
“Launching Harbor Baltimore’s street outreach has pushed us to innovate,” said Courtney Ross Escobar, SEI’s co-Executive Director & Chief Operations Officer. “With prostitution tracks spread throughout the city, we’ve had to rethink how to provide meaningful, trauma-informed care in brief encounters. Given the city’s size, we are developing new approaches to deliver comprehensive support and case management services in a street outreach setting. We’re meeting people where they are—building trust, offering immediate support, and opening pathways to long-term services.”
SEI has strengthened its leadership by appointing Pamala Cary as the Harbor Baltimore Program Director. With lived experience and extensive expertise in supporting survivors of sexual violence and human trafficking, Cary brings a deep understanding of the challenges faced by the community. She has begun building out a team of Community Support Specialists who will be able to provide services to more neighborhoods in need throughout the city.
“Community partnerships are vital to the success of street outreach and harm reduction efforts because they provide broader reach, trusted connections, and comprehensive support,” said Cary. “Collaboration with community-based providers, churches, and volunteers expands SEI’s impact and raises awareness within different segments of the community.”
A major milestone in SEI’s work is its new designation as an overdose response provider through the Maryland Department of Health’s Overdose Response Program. This enables SEI to administer naloxone, a life-saving intervention in harm reduction efforts and street outreach work.
SEI is proud to announce that, to date, it has secured $70,000 in grant funding to support Harbor Baltimore. This includes a $50,000 grant from MONSE and a $20,000 grant from the Abell Foundation.
About Safe Exit Initiative
Safe Exit Initiative (SEI) is a survivor-led nonprofit organization with a mission to create safe and sustainable exits from exploitation and the sex trade through quality programming, strategic partnerships, and comprehensive legislative initiatives.
To donate or get involved please visit our website at www.SafeExitInitiative.org or contact us at Hello@safeexits.org
The History of the Safe Exit Initiative
SEI began in 2014 as a survivor-created drop-in center in Worcester, Massachusetts providing a place where victims could access basic resources such as food, clothing, harm reduction and first aid supplies while engaging with peer mentor support. What began as a small, few-hours-a-week program in a church basement has grown into an innovative, award-winning, survivor-led organization that is working to improve the lives of survivors of commercial sex exploitation (CSE) in Massachusetts—and now, Baltimore, MD.
Population Served
SEI programs support victims, survivors, and those at high risk of CSE—an underserved and highly vulnerable group. Individuals often face multiple challenges such as poverty, housing and food insecurity, trauma, mental health and substance use disorders, and involvement in various systems. The majority are BIPOC and LGBTQIA+, with an average entry age into exploitation as young as 13.
CSE is a devastating crime that takes over a person’s life, leading to chronic health conditions such as substance use disorders, mental illness, and infectious diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C. Victims often carry criminal records linked to their own exploitation, preventing access to stable income, housing, education, and even their children.
Accomplishments
SEI programs are nationally recognized for their innovation and impact. Recently, SEI was one of only eight organizations in the country to receive the Foundation for Improvement of Justice’s Paul H. Chapman Medal for advancing the civil and criminal justice systems. Additionally, their Massachusetts Harbor program was selected by the Mosaic Opioid Recovery Partnership as a model for replication.
SEI is a trusted partner to state and local governments, first responders, agencies, and law enforcement, and is regularly consulted for its expertise on CSE and sex trafficking. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission recently awarded SEI a two-year research opportunity to examine the link between casinos, casino resorts, and sex trafficking in the state. In Baltimore, SEI was chosen by the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) as one of 11 grant recipients and one of only three organizations providing trauma-informed street outreach for trafficking victims.
A leader in the movement to end the sex trade, SEI has presented at major national conferences, including the Women in the World Annual Summit, World Without Exploitation Now to Next, Shared Hope International’s JuST Conference, and the Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking Symposium.
For more information about Safe Exit Initiative and its work, please visit safeexitinitiative.org.
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Media Contact:
Kyla Pacheco
Director of Marketing & Development