We recently connected with Jonathan Spencer and have shared our conversation below.

Jonathan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights.  Can you take a moment to introduce yourself and share how you came up with the idea for your non-profit?

Trained as an Environmental Engineer, I first became aware of the problem of sex trafficking in 2012 while I was serving as Chief Operating Officer for a non-profit that was delivering clean water solutions to impoverished communities around the globe.  I was surprised to learn that there are more individuals enslaved today than at any other time in history.  According to the United Nations, India is the most dangerous place in the world to be a girl, with an estimated 200,000 victims trafficked annually.  The vast majority of these are girls from illiterate, lower caste families.  Without an education or vocational skills, even after rescue, the girls often return to the sex trade simply to survive.  In 2013, I made a trip to India to learn more.  While I was there, I participated in an undercover sting operation which succeeded in rescuing a 12-year-old girl who was being sold by her family.  Having taken my own daughter to India in 2005, I was deeply impacted by her story and the lack of rehabilitative care available in India.  Upon my return to the U.S., I founded New Horizons House (NHH) in order to provide comprehensive rehabilitative services for girls rescued from human trafficking and sexual abuse.  Over the next several years, I made multiple visits back to India where I cultivated a wide network of partnerships with other like-minded individuals and organizations.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to shared more about the problem of human trafficking and how New Horizons got to where it is today?

According to a recent (2019) UNICEF report, girls in rural India are 3 times more likely to not attend school compared to their male counterparts. The report highlights a number of barriers to girls’ education, including: poverty, child marriage, gender-based violence, and gender biases.  Approximately 40 percent of 15 to 18-year-old-girls in India are out of school and, among them, 65 percent are engaged in household and/or agricultural work in order to support their families.  According to the June 2021 U.S. State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report, “significant shortcomings in protections for [trafficking] victims, especially children, remain unaddressed in India.”

In 2015, we purchased 2.3 acres of land in the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh and subsequently raised the necessary funds to construct a state-of-the-art dormitory, dining hall, administration building, and classrooms.  Our residential program includes 4 primary components including: 

•                     trauma counseling,

•                     medical care,

•                     education, and

•                     vocational training 

After entering the program, an individual treatment plan is developed for each girl in consultation with the counselors, nursing staff, and house mothers.    Our goal is to see each girl re-enter mainstream society with sufficient mental health to manage independent living through gainful employment and/or marriage.  Today, New Horizons is providing holistic restoration services to more than 70 girls, ages 12-21.  Recognizing a need to provide post-secondary educational opportunities, in 2021, we opened a Transition House where our older girls are attending university and/or pursuing additional vocational training to start their own small businesses.  In addition, New Horizons devotes resources to educate local villages about the risks of sex trafficking and how girls can prevent becoming a victim.

Our program puts these girls on the path to restoration by helping them process their trauma, manage relationships, replace unhealthy coping strategies with healthy ones, and thrive in relationships.  The girls acquire the confidence and skills they need to make alternate choices for themselves and are empowered to re-enter mainstream society with dignity and hope.  As of June 2023, 91% of our girls have gone on to find gainful employment, attend University, start their own small businesses and/or have gotten married.  And in 2022, our Field Administrator received the World Women Icon Award and was recognized for Outstanding Contribution in Child Development for her work with New Horizons.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

After having returned from India in 2012 and seeing the problem of human trafficking firsthand, I was committed to establishing a program that would provide these girls with the confidence and skills they needed to make alternate choices for their futures.  That said, there were a number of significant challenges including:

•                     At the time, I was busy running my own environmental engineering firm full time.

•                     I had very little knowledge of the problem of sex trafficking.

•                     I faced huge logistical challenges trying to establish a non-profit 12 time zones away in a country where I did not speak the language.

That said, I’ve always been inspired by this quote by Amelia Earhart:  “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.”  In that spirit, here are 4 take-a-ways from my journey with New Horizons:

•                     Begin where you’re at with the resources you have.

•                     Devote yourself to learning what you need to know.

•                     Find allies and partners who share your vision.

•                     Don’t give up.

Here’s an example I can share about the power of persistence.

In 2018, I contacted an organization that had a similar mission hoping to have them partner with us.  They wished us well but told us that they would be unable to assist.

I emailed them again in 2019 and sent them an impact report highlighting the work we were doing in India and the lives which were being impacted.  Once again, they were enthusiastic about our program but indicated that they were not in a position to partner with us.

In 2021 I re-connected with them a third time and shared videos of several girls whose futures had been transformed by the work we were doing.  Today, Love Does is one of New Horizons’ strategic partners.

The take-away?  ‘No’ may simply mean ‘Not at this time.’  If you believe in your mission, stay engaged with prospective partners and share your successes.  People like to be part of something that is making a positive difference.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.newhorizonshouse.org
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/newhorizonshouse/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/NewHorizonsHouse
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ9GjPSO8sI