Community Champion Spotlight: Fahreta Muminovic and Ranie Thompson

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 second highlight features leaders in the legal services field. Both were nominated because of their leadership, commitment to treating survivors with dignity, and dedication to collaboration. They are Fahreta Muminovic of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans and Ranie Thompson of CrescentCare.

Thank you Fahreta and Ranie for all you do for our community! We're so lucky to have you in the Greater New Orleans community. 

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Fahreta Muminovic

Senior Staff Attorney, Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans, Immigrant Legal Services

"My most memorable experiences have revolved around witnessing survivors regain control over their lives and develop agency."

What is your role in the Greater New Orleans community?
I am the T Visa point person at Catholic Charities, meaning I handle all aspects of trafficking survivors’ immigration cases. Our office routinely screens trafficking survivors for immigration relief and connect them with community resources. I help empower undocumented survivors to report their traffickers and collaborate with various law enforcement agencies to help survivors pursue justice. I frequently meet with community partners to establish connections, raise awareness regarding our services, and provide information regarding immigration options and consequences, to provide support for our vulnerable clientele.

What has been your most successful or memorable experience working in the anti-trafficking movement?
Within the anti-trafficking movement, my most memorable experiences have revolved around witnessing survivors regain control over their lives and develop agency. This would not be possible without all members of the task force cooperating and understanding the particular nuanced needs of our clients. Without organizations like the Family Justice Center and Jewish Family Service, survivors would not be able to endure the strained immigration legal process that exists.

What has been your favorite aspect of collaborating among task force partners?
I have enjoyed the GNOHTTF providing a forum where diverse organizations and agencies can come together, exchange ideas, and strive to understand one another in an effort to reach the ultimate goal of creating awareness, providing protection, and establishing security for our trafficking survivors.

What are Task Force members saying about Fahreta?

"Fahreta is engaged and committed to ensuring immigrant survivors have access to all the support they need."

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Ranie Thompson

Attorney, Director of Legal Services, CrescentCare

“If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” ― Lilla Watson

What is your role in the Greater New Orleans community?
As an attorney and advocate, I work with Greater New Orleans Human Trafficking Task Force to identify and coordinate legal resources in the community to assist survivors through direct legal services, outreach and education. I am also the Chair of the New Legal Services Working Group.

What has been your favorite aspect of collaborating among task force partners?
It’s refreshing to see agencies that are usually at odds unite be on the same side, unite around this common issue and work to bring an end to human trafficking in our community.To this end, I frequently return to a favorite scripture and quote. “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8. “If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” ― Lilla Watson

What has been your most memorable experience working in anti-trafficking?
My most memorable experience is the first encounter I had with a client who disclosed their trafficking story to me during an initial consultation on an unrelated matter.  My work has always been holistic in nature, with the purpose of providing services to the whole client.  During the conversation, we talked about several legal challenges the client had and finally, the client connected the dots for me with the disclosure. I immediately realized how little I knew about this issue locally, nationally and globally. I was also moved by the lack of resources available to assist the client with several issues identified as part of my efforts to help them move forward.Issues regarding income stability, housing stability, employment barriers, discrimination, access to healthcare, and general health and wellness are not new to my clients, many of whom are low-income, impoverished and marginalized.  Working with vulnerable populations, I see these social determinants of health and work to address them through direct legal assistance and advocacy.  However, with this client, I had to add the human trafficking layer and look for new ways to advocate and fight.  Sadly, my ability to help was limited for a number of reasons.That single encounter is what prompted me to reach out to the GNOHTTF and others working in the community to become educated and to look for opportunities to support the work already being done by leveraging resources as a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Access to Justice Committee and in my capacity as Director of Legal Services at CrescentCare.

What are Task Force members saying about Ranie?

"Ranie sees the intersections of survivors' needs in the New Orleans community, and she brings people together to serve the whole survivor."

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