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By DAVE DOMESCIK | Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – Blanket Fort Hope, a nonprofit dedicated to serving child survivors of human trafficking, is celebrating an important milestone in 2025 with a fundraising gala.

The Restoring Dreams Gala is set to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Blanket Fort Hope, and serves not only as a fundraiser for the organization but also a way to spread awareness of the hideous blot that is child sex trafficking.

Alexa James, the CEO and founder of Blanket Fort Hope, reflected on the organization’s humble beginnings and the growth the organization has experienced since then.

“Blanket Fort Hope is ten years old,” James said. “That is just a milestone for us where we started from zero and are now $1.4 million debt free on a restoration home, which is very exciting.”

The Restoration Home is a new development from Blanket Fort Hope that serves as a welcoming environment for female child trafficking survivors. It serves up to nine girls at a time in the 13-18 years old age range. James believes this development is critical in the growth of Blanket Fort Hope.

“(When we started), we started from zero, and there were very few homes for children that had been caught up in human trafficking,” James said. “We are very excited to have the restoration home for children… we will also have our child placing agency license, called a CPA. Not only will we have the home on the property, but we can recruit foster families off of property that we will be case managing.”

Human trafficking is a scourge that isn’t restricted to geographical boundaries; Blanket Fort Hope’s Restoration Home and CPA license will give the organization the tools needed to help eliminate human trafficking throughout Shelby County and Alabama as a whole.

Harkening back to Blanket Fort Hope’s humble beginnings, James explained that the organization’s start included using one of the simplest strategies to earn money.

“When I first started Blanket Fort Hope, my dad built a lemonade stand, and that lemonade stand traveled all over the state of Alabama with me,” James said. “That was our beginning, and that’s how I raised money was through our lemonade stand. I would make lemonade and go to churches, national nights out, police events… (and) I started talking about child survivors of human trafficking. It was very few people talking about it ten years ago. That little lemonade stand opened up doors for me within the state.”

These opportunities included meetings with the attorney general’s office and the Alabama Department of Human Resources, which further helped Blanket Fort Hope hit the ground running.

James took the time to explain the education component of Blanket Fort Hope, which contains a comprehensive look on how to prevent human trafficking.

“(The program) goes deep into the behavioral and physical indicators of human trafficking so people can identify who these children are because these children don’t self-identify,” James said. “(For) many of these children, their last hope could be in an emergency room. We’ve trained over 18,000 people to date in different entities.”

James added that three components make up Blanket Fort Hope’s mission in fighting human trafficking.

“We believe in housing, education and advocating,” James said. “It takes all three of those to make a change in child survivors of human trafficking.”

James then took the time to explain how the funds raised from the Restoring Dreams Gala will benefit Blanket Fort Hope.

“Everything that we raise goes towards the house or the children because we have a grant that pays for administrative cost,” James said. “It will pay for their education and it will pay for their services. It takes us upwards of $3,000 a month to take care of one child because of their services that they need.”

These services include basic necessities like food and clothing, as well as trauma-based counseling and education.

James further added that the experience of the Blanket Fort Hope team helps them achieve their goal of restoring dreams of children affected by human trafficking.

“Our team has 50 plus years of experience altogether… understanding uniquely what the need for the children is,” James said. “We believe fully that this is not a stop, drop and roll situation where you just bring a kid in for six months and say ‘See ya’… we feed you, clothe you and love you. We give you biblical principles along with all of the life skills that we can offer you.”

James then took the time to introduce the event’s keynote speaker, Jaco Booyens. Booyens is an international speaker and filmmaker, and is the founder of Jaco Booyens Ministries and Share Together, a nonprofit fighting against human trafficking.

“He (Booyens) is a dynamic speaker, and people don’t want to miss this,” James said.

James also emphasized that people curious about getting involved in Blanket Fort Hope’s mission only need to look at their name to know their mission.

“Blanket Fort has a name and it’s hope,” James said. “When you built a blanket fort when you were little, it was a place of safety. It was a fortress of safety, and our little Blanket Fort has a name and it’s hope.”

James concluded by explaining that the Gala is a full-circle moment considering the return of a special item.

“We’re going to include the lemonade stand (at the gala), and we’re going to have mocktails around the lemonade stand which is going to be fun,” James said. “That little lemonade stand, I know it sounds silly, but literally I started raising money 50 cents at a time. We literally started with zero.”

After starting with zero, Blanket Fort Hope now sits at a decade of serving child human trafficking survivors and making a difference in Alabama.

For more information on Blanket Fort Hope, visit Blanketforthope.org. To purchase tickets for the gala, visit Cbo.io/tickets/bfhope/tix.