Restorations exists to support survivors of sexual exploitation and human trafficking by providing long-term residential housing and survivor-led peer programming. 

Human trafficking is a serious and growing human rights violation in Canada. It involves the recruitment, transportation, harbouring, or control of a person for the purpose of exploitation, most commonly sexual exploitation and forced labour. Trafficking occurs through the use of coercion, deception, abuse of power, or exploitation of vulnerability — not necessarily through physical force.

In Canada:
- 93% of reported trafficking cases involve sexual exploitation, and the majority of victims are women and girls.
- The vast majority of trafficking occurs domestically, within Canadian cities and communities.
- Indigenous women and girls, newcomers, individuals with prior experiences of abuse, poverty, housing instability, or involvement in child welfare are disproportionately targeted.

Trafficking often does not look like what people expect. It frequently involves someone the survivor knows — a partner, family member, friend, or recruiter — who uses emotional manipulation, promises of safety, love, or opportunity, and gradual control.

Trafficking thrives in conditions of vulnerability. It is not caused by individual choices, but by systemic factors such as poverty, gender inequality, racism, housing insecurity, and gaps in community support.

At Restorations, we work alongside survivors to provide long-term housing and survivor-led supports that address both the trauma of exploitation and the conditions that allowed it to occur. 

Nancy’s House is the first of its kind second-stage, long-term transitional home for survivors of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation in our community.

Long-term safe housing is foundational to a survivor’s healing. It provides a critical bridge between first-stage emergency shelters or short-term safe houses — which address immediate safety and crisis — and third-stage independent living. Despite its importance, there is far too little long-term supportive housing available that focuses on both healing and the development of the skills survivors need to thrive independently.

At Nancy’s House, survivors are supported through a survivor-focused, trauma-informed, and strengths-based approach, where each resident leads their own healing journey while our team walks alongside them. Residents receive access to specialized programming, individualized and holistic care, wrap-around supports, and a strong sense of belonging within a community of other survivors.

Our programming is designed to help residents define and achieve their personal goals. Through personalized care planning, weekly check-ins with staff, and encouragement toward increasing independence, residents are supported in building the skills, confidence, and stability needed for long-term success.

Services are delivered through a combination of in-house programming and partnerships with trusted organizations across the Halton and Hamilton communities, ensuring residents receive comprehensive and coordinated care. 

The Survivor-Led Peer Advocacy Program at Restorations is designed by survivors, for survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

This program complements our non-peer services by fostering relationships rooted in lived experience, trust, and mutual understanding. Our Peer Advocates are individuals with lived experience of trafficking and/or commercial sexual exploitation who also bring professional training and expertise.

Through education, consultation, and direct engagement with organizations, professionals, and community initiatives, Peer Advocates help shape survivor-centred, trauma-informed practices across the community. Their leadership strengthens systems of care and ensures that survivor voices meaningfully inform policy, programming, and service delivery.

By creating opportunities for survivors to lead, contribute, and influence change, Peer Advocacy at Restorations advances healing, dignity, and long-term empowerment — not only for individuals, but for the broader community.