When the U.S. Justice Department called Carol Merna at the Center for Prevention of Abuse in Peoria in 2016 offering federal reimbursement to provide services for human trafficking victims, Merna figured it was an easy lift.

“Being as naïve as I was at the time about human trafficking at that time, the answer was, 'Sure, how many could there be?’” Merna recalled. “We quickly learned as we began to educate ourselves that human trafficking happens all around us.”

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