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How REST Is Preparing for Seattle’s 2026 Global ...

As Seattle prepares for a major global soccer event, REST is preparing to meet the moment with awareness, outreach, and survivor-centered support. Learn why large events make community preparedness so important, what REST is doing to strengthen response, and how you can help survivors know there is a safe place to turn.

How REST Is Preparing for Seattle’s 2026 Global Soccer Events
REST Updates
REST
Gathering in Community and Growing in Hope

Healing does not always happen in obvious ways. Sometimes it looks like gathering around a table for Easter dinner, joining a supportive conversation, or laughing together over banana splits. In April, REST shelter guests experienced meaningful moments of joy, connection, and care that helped create space for hope. Read more about how these moments are supporting healing at REST.

Gathering in Community and Growing in Hope
REST Updates
REST
Creating Belonging, Healing, and Possibility

Camp REST created space for belonging, healing, and possibility in March. From shared meals and creative activities to a restorative visit to Salish Lodge, guests experienced moments of connection, care, and encouragement. The month also marked meaningful transitions as two guests took important next steps toward stability and independence. Read more about how Camp REST helped create room for rest, community, and new possibilities.

Creating Belonging, Healing, and Possibility
REST Updates
REST
New Names, New Spaces, More Support: REST ...

This spring, REST is expanding shelter capacity from 7 beds to 12, but this story is about more than additional space. It is about listening to survivors, rethinking language, and creating environments that feel safe, dignified, and deeply restorative. From renaming our shelter the Essential RESToration Center to launching the new RESToration Transition Center, every detail reflects a commitment to care that is thoughtful, survivor centered, and designed to support what comes next. Read how this expansion is helping create more room for healing, hope, and lasting restoration.

New Names, New Spaces, More Support: REST Expands to 12 Beds
REST Updates
REST
Celebrating 15 Years of REST

Fifteen years ago, REST began with one bold belief: survivors deserve dignity, compassion, and real pathways forward. Since 2009, that belief has looked like calls answered when someone had nowhere else to turn, advocates showing up again and again, and a community refusing to look away. In our 15-year anniversary blog, we reflect on REST’s journey from our beginnings in 2009 through becoming an official 501(c)(3) in 2011, what this milestone truly represents, and why we’re more committed than ever to the work ahead. Read the full post to celebrate with us and see what’s next.

Celebrating 15 Years of REST

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Wondering what to do after watching Sound of Freedom?

We’ve been getting questions about the movie, Sound of Freedom, and imagine you may have seen it too. The movie follows the journey of a former Homeland Security agent who initiates sting operations in foreign countries to find and recover children from sex trafficking. Here are some takeaways we’d like to share after watching the film: 

1. Increased awareness of sex trafficking is good and should always center the voices and experiences of survivors. 

The more people that know about the issue of sex trafficking, the more likely we are to build momentum toward real change. That’s why we think it’s important to learn from those who have experienced trafficking firsthand and can speak to the most promising practices in the effort to end sex trafficking. Here are a few organizations and accounts we recommend you follow to keep learning about this issue:

2. The film is a great conversation starter, let’s not stop there. 

There is much more to understand about the realities of sex trafficking (and how to safely intervene) than was shared through the film. We can help fill in the information gaps at our virtual REST Training Day, open to all community members who want to learn more about this issue and find a way to engage. This training is offered quarterly.

Sign up for REST Training Day

3. Trafficking of children (and adults) happens worldwide, including here in the United States.

An estimated 500-700 youth and likely even more adults are trafficked in the sex trade in King County, WA. Over 600 individuals engage with REST for services each year. The majority are from the area, and many were trafficked for the first time by a parent or family member. By offering financial support or getting involved with REST or other local organizations that combat human trafficking, you can make a meaningful difference!

Donate

4. Efforts to address sex trafficking should never put victims in harm’s way and should always ensure adequate long-term safety and recovery support is in place.

While undercover stings can be portrayed as effective, the work to identify victims of trafficking, help them get to safety, and ensure they have access to the long-term resources and support they need requires significant time and resources. Even when reunited with family, or finally in a safe place to sleep at night, the journey of recovery is filled with peaks and valleys, and getting away from a trafficker is just one step in that long journey. It’s critical to ensure holistic supports are set up for the long haul.

By partnering with REST, you are contributing to the holistic support that enables victims and survivors of sex trafficking to find safety and find their pathways to freedom, safety, and hope, no matter how long it takes.

Resolve to End Homelessness With Us

Resolve to End Homelessness With Us

At REST, we know that there is a massive overlap in sexually exploited individuals and homelessness. Data shows that 84% of survivors of sexual exploitation have endured homelessness. A local study by Deborah Boyer, Commercially Sexually Exploited Children in Seattle/King County 2019 Update, demonstrated that 46% of sexually exploited youth in our community were homeless at the time of the study—and 66% of them had faced homelessness.

10 Ways You Can Help End Sexual Exploitation

10 Ways You Can Help End Sexual Exploitation

“What can I do?” We hear this question—in all of its nuances—a lot at REST—and we love this question.

When first learning about the problem of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation—that thousands of women, men, and children are being exploited right here in the United States every day, it can be paralyzing. It can feel hopeless. The problem can feel too big for any one person to make a difference.

But—as long as there are people who respond to hearing of pain and suffering with the desire (met with action) to make the world a better place—there is hope. As long as people are still asking the question, “What can I do?” or, “What can *I* do?”, we will respond with options.

Most of the photographs representing survivors on this website are stock photography and feature models used for illustrative purposes only. With a few carefully evaluated exceptions, we do not publish or share photos of survivors at REST.

REST is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization | EIN #45-3531020