“If you ever want to see your son again, you’ll do what I say.”

Note: This story includes references to human trafficking and sexual assault and may be distressing to some readers.

I never thought I’d be writing to you about what happened to me.

My name is Elizabeth, at the time it happened I was a 19-year-old mother.

Like so many others, I was just trying to make a better life for myself and my son. But what started as a promise of hope turned into a nightmare.

It all began when an old friend reached out to me on social media.

She felt like family—I had even lived with her for years growing up. She seemed so kind and understanding when I told her about my struggles at home.

I was arguing with my mom, and I couldn’t find a job that would allow me to care for my son.

She told me to come to Pittsburgh, where she’d help me find work and give me a place to stay. It sounded like the lifeline I desperately needed!

She even paid for plane tickets for me and my son!

When we arrived, she put us up in a hotel, bought us food, and got diapers for my baby. For the first couple of days, I thought everything was going to be okay.

But on the third day, everything changed.

That morning, she brought a man to my hotel room.

She told me it was time for me to “go to work.”

Confused, I told her I’d start looking for a job immediately.

But she said no—I had to “work” now.

The man she brought was a pimp. He told me I had to provide sex to any man he brought into the room.

I refused.

That’s when things turned nasty.

He beat me, abused me, and held me captive in the hotel room.

When I still firmly said no, he grabbed my son and said, “If you ever want to see him again, you’ll do what I say.”

My heart broke into pieces as I begged him not to hurt my baby.

He snatched my son away from me. He left me alone in the room.

He didn’t bring my son back for three days.

As you can imagine, those three days without my son were the longest and most excruciating of my life. I felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest.

Every second that passed was filled with unbearable fear—fear that I would never see him again, fear that he was being hurt, fear that I had failed as a mother. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep—I could barely breathe.

The helplessness was suffocating, and the guilt was overwhelming. How could I have trusted someone who would do this to me and my baby? Those three days changed me forever—they were a nightmare I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

But knowing that they might hurt my son, what could I do?

Over the next several months, I was trafficked across Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

They advertised me online and forced me into hotel rooms with strangers. Every day felt like an eternity of fear.

One day in Central Jersey, while the pimp was distracted arguing with another girl, I saw my chance.

Grabbing my son, I ran as fast as I could.

At a hotel, a kind hotel clerk hid us in an office for hours while they tried to find someone who could help us.

The first agency they called said they couldn’t assist because we weren’t in their county…

Then they called COVENANT HOUSE PENNSYLVANIA.

Covenant House Pennsylvania’s outreach team came immediately.

They picked us up and brought us to their shelter, where they gave us food and diapers for my son—things that felt like luxuries after everything we’d been through.

For the first time in months, I felt safe.

Covenant House Pennsylvania’s human trafficking specialists listened as I shared my story—the abuse I endured, how many girls were being held by this trafficker [one was only 15 years old], and how he had warrants out for his arrest in Virginia.

Even though I was terrified of law enforcement because of what the pimp might do to us if he found out, Covenant House Pennsylvania worked with the FBI on my behalf while protecting my identity.

Thanks to Covenant House Pennsylvania’s support, I was reunited with family in the south and connected with services that are helping me rebuild my life!

Today, I’m sharing my story because there are so many others like me who need help—people who feel trapped and hopeless but don’t know where to turn.

I hope you can help Covenant House Pennsylvania continue their life-saving work with young people like me.

Every dollar you give helps someone like me escape the horrors of trafficking and find hope again.

Thank you for believing in this mission—and for giving survivors like me a second chance at life!