Santa Maria Safehouse to Open This Fall 

Connie Logeman (pictured) of Santa Maria is leading the movement to establish the county’s first long-term safehouse for human-trafficking victims. Casa of Hope will offer six women a home for as long as they need and provide them with free restorative therapy and college classes. Santa Maria is a statewide “hub,” said Logeman, as traffickers move between northern and southern California along Highway 101. A growing number of incidents along the Central Coast prompted the U.S. Department of Justice in 2016 to award $1.34 million to the county’s Human Trafficking Task Force.