Community Champion Spotlight: Ariel Gutierrez and Ruth Goldberg
/To honor Human Trafficking Awareness Month, each week in January we will be highlighting 2 individuals who have gone above and beyond in the Greater New Orleans community to serve victims and survivors of human trafficking. This highlight is the “Community Champion Spotlight”. Each individual was nominated by Task Force members. Community champions represent a variety of different disciplines and perspectives from the anti-trafficking movement.
Our first highlight features members of funded GNOHTTF service provider agencies. Both were nominated because of their leadership, commitment to treating victims/survivors with dignity, and dedication to collaboration. They have raised the bar on survivor services in New Orleans. They are Ariel Gutierrez of the New Orleans Family Justice Center, and Ruth Goldberg of Jewish Family Service of Greater new Orleans.
Thank you Ariel and Ruth for all you do for our community! We're so lucky to have you in the Greater New Orleans community.
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Ariel Gutierrez
Case Manager, New Orleans Family Justice Center
"Having someone present with [survivors] on an ongoing basis can be a crucial part of accessing help that they might have otherwise not felt empowered to."
What is your role in the Greater New Orleans community?
Connecting survivors to local support services, and when appropriate helping them advocate for their needs in medical/legal/law enforcement settings. When clients experience long-term or multiple victimizations, their ability to engage with or access services that allow them to thrive can be diminished, and it’s my job to help them connect the dots as much as possible. Because trafficking survivors often come from marginalized or vulnerable communities, having someone present with them on an ongoing basis can be a crucial part of accessing help that they might have otherwise not felt empowered to. Although we all know that there is a broad spectrum of trafficking survivors (what they look like, their previous life experiences, etc.), a client’s social capital and mobility can have a significant impact on their ongoing/long-term recovery and well-being.
What has been your most successful experience working in the anti-trafficking movement?
Anytime a client’s case makes significant progress is memorable – when a valuable resource pulls through, or we get confirmation that someone is interested in taking their case, or that legal support for them becomes a possibility. In these moments it can feel like all the puzzle pieces are starting to come together, especially when the client has more intensive needs.
What has been your favorite aspect of collaborating among task force partners?
Building relationships with task force partners, and working together toward a common goal, has been incredibly rewarding. There are many task force members that I’d never otherwise cross paths with or have an opportunity to collaborate with (especially when their job descriptions are so different from my own); when we’re able to collaborate in service of a common goal, and addressing this common goal from different perspectives, is something that might not have been possible were it not for the GNOHTTF.
What are Task Force members saying about Ariel?
"Ariel's willingness to cooperation with other organizations has improved service coordination in New Orleans."
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Ruth Goldberg
Bilingual Case Manager, Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans
"It is ultimately our actions, rather than our words, that will prove to survivors of human trafficking that we honor their dignity, self-worth and humanity."
What is your role in the Greater New Orleans community?
I provide intensive case management or clinical counseling to survivors of human trafficking with the understanding that their right to self-determination will always be respected. The majority of the survivors whom I have helped have been from Central America.
What has been your favorite aspect of collaborating among task force partners?
It is always inspiring to come across other individuals who are just as passionate, committed and determined to be of service to survivors of human trafficking. I am so impressed by and deeply grateful to organizations such as Family Justice Center and Eden House for the absolutely incredible, holistic work that they are doing in assisting survivors of human trafficking. It was Margaret Mead, an American cultural anthropologist, who said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Anything else you'd like to share?
This work is extremely difficult – resources tend to be very limited and systems are often strained, especially for foreign born survivors of human trafficking. For these reasons, I believe that if there is anything I can reasonably do or advocate for, at my level as a Case Manager or Counselor, to reduce “roadblocks” or “barriers” to assistance for survivors of human trafficking, then I should try my very best to do it – For it is ultimately our actions, rather than our words, that will prove to survivors of human trafficking that we honor their dignity, self-worth and humanity.
What are Task Force members saying about Ruth?
"Ruth is persistent in her quest to ensure every survivor has access to the services that they need. She's creative, and collaborative, and kind."
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