Frequently Asked Questions

Human Trafficking is the illegal recruitment, transportation, or harboring of persons using force, fraud, or coercion to perform commercial sex acts and/or forced labor services for profitable purposes.

*Note: The beast of Human Trafficking knows no boundaries. It targets all socioeconomic statuses (i.e. educated middle-class university students) as well as all ethnicities, cultures, cities, gender, religion, and sexual orientation.

Signs:

• Poor mental health or abnormal behavior (i.e. fearful, anxious, depressed, avoids eye contact, submissive, tense, paranoid)
• Poor physical health (i.e. malnourished, no healthcare, signs of physical/sexual abuse)
• Few or no personal possessions
• No bank account
• Is unable to speak for themselves (i.e. being accompanied and spoken for by abuser during medical appointment)
• Lack of knowledge of whereabouts and/or does not know what city he/she is in
• Loss of sense of time
• Numerous inconsistencies in his/her story

*Note: Not an inclusive list.

Two Wings has not gone away — but we have been reimagined and now go by the name Qualified. Incorporating Dwelle Collaborative’s resources allows us to enhance our services and reinvent how we best aid our participants. And though we have a new name, we still have the same tax ID, the same exemption status, and most importantly, the same purpose: to empower survivors of sex trafficking, and women at risk of being trafficked, to identify and pursue their dream careers.

Dwelle Collaborative has become part of Qualified, and one of its co-founders, Esther Suh Kwon, has become one of the two co-founders of Qualified, along with Two Wings founder and CEO, Elena Shahnaian. Esther is now the Chief Innovation Officer of Qualified, and Elena is CEO of Qualified. The Occupational Therapy services offered by Qualified will be the same services that Dwelle Collaborative provided to its client for years.

Occupational therapy is the profession that utilizes the therapeutic use of everyday activities (occupations) to help people across the lifespan participate in the things they want and need to do. It focuses on a holistic approach by adapting the environment and/or occupation to fit the person.

Occupational therapists are equipped to address the complex psychosocial, physical, and cognitive needs of survivors that are imperative to achieving meaningful, sustainable, and independent living.

Occupational therapy practitioners ask “What matters to you?” not “What’s the matter with you”. The services occupational therapists provide to survivors of human trafficking are: task analysis, coping strategies, goal setting, assessment & evaluation, role development, life skills training, address environmental supports and barriers, activities involving sensory modulation, as well as self-care, leisure, and social participation.

Occupational therapy helps restore occupational justice or the rights of survivors to access opportunities and resources to engage in their chosen and meaningful occupations. It helps create a “new normal”, a new narrative by assisting survivors of human trafficking form new habits, routines, and roles.

We are always looking for volunteers from all professional backgrounds to act as Career Mentors and Workshop Facilitators. And we are specifically looking for trained Occupational Therapists as well as Artist & Community Partners. Please visit our Get Involved page to learn more.