Safe Exit Initiative- SEI

💚 We are incredibly grateful to Home, a student-led group through the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, for their recent donation to Harbor Baltimore.

Their generous contribution included a large supply of hygiene products, first aid kits, condoms, and other essential toiletries. Access to these items helps promote health, dignity, and well-being, and we are deeply appreciative of Home’s commitment to our community.

Thank you to the students of Home for your compassion, generosity, and partnership in helping us provide critical resources to women in Baltimore.

Earlier this week, SEI's Audra Doody traveled to the Block Island Film Festival for a screening of The Right Track documentary, which features her and other SEI leadership. Following the screening, Audra participated in a panel discussion with fellow survivor leaders and the executive producer of the film.

👉 Check out the comments in this post by the Block Island Film Festival to watch videos from the event!

We’re underway with the first day of the 8th annual Block Island Film Festival at Block Island Maritime Institute -BIMI with the screening of the amazing documentary “The Right Track.” Sponsored by Champlin's Marina & Resort and Dead Eye Dick's

The recent Jeffrey Epstein Field Hearing in Palm Beach County on May 12th serves as a reminder of why the work and education that Safe Exit Initiative (SEI) is doing is so important everywhere. Communities must build systems that identify vulnerability early, intervene quickly, and provide young people with trusted adults, safe spaces, and meaningful support before exploitation occurs.

More than 1,200 girls were exploited by Jeffrey Epstein after a 14-year-old survivor disclosed abuse to her parents, who then reported it to authorities.

Systemic mishandling creates conditions where years of continued exploitation and institutional failure exist.

We cannot continue to only react after exploitation has already occurred.

At SEI, we believe that prevention and early intervention must be treated as essential community infrastructure. This is especially true for places where enormous wealth exists alongside significant youth vulnerability, housing instability, trauma exposure, exploitation risk, and major gaps in accessible, trusted youth services.

That is why SEI is working hard to launch the Waypoint Youth Prevention & Intervention Program in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Waypoint is designed to meet young people before a crisis escalates. The program focuses on prevention education, mentorship, intervention services, exploitation awareness, emotional support, and connection to safe community resources through a trauma-informed, survivor-informed model grounded in consistency, relationship-building, and trust.

We know this model works because we have seen firsthand what happens when young people are given honest education, stable support systems, and adults who show up before exploitation becomes entrenched.

We deserve proactive solutions, not just retrospective outrage.

Hearings should not only ask what failed years ago. They should force a broader conversation about what Palm Beach County, as a community, is willing to invest in now in order to prevent the next generation of young people from falling through the cracks.

To learn more about Safe Exit Initiative (SEI) please visit our website at safeexitinitiative.org.

Honoring the Life and Legacy of Natasha Guynes

Safe Exit Initiative (SEI) is deeply saddened by the passing of Natasha Guynes, Founder and CEO of HER Resiliency Center and a longtime survivor-leader in Baltimore’s anti-trafficking and violence prevention community.

Natasha dedicated her life to supporting women impacted by exploitation, trafficking, substance use disorder, violence, and systemic neglect. Through HER Resiliency Center, she created spaces rooted in dignity, understanding, and lived experience for women who are routinely unseen and underserved. Her work mattered deeply to the city of Baltimore and to the many lives she has touched over the years.

The closure of HER Resiliency Center in October 2025 marked the loss of one of Baltimore’s only survivor-led organizations dedicated to serving individuals impacted by the s*x trade and trafficking. With Natasha’s passing, Baltimore has lost a survivor-leader whose voice, insight, and commitment helped shape this work.

This work is extraordinarily difficult. Those working in anti-trafficking, violence prevention, and frontline intervention efforts carry the emotional realities of crisis response, systems advocacy, community grief, and the responsibility of fighting every day for people overlooked and discarded by society. It is deeply important work that carries profound personal and professional weight. Natasha carried that responsibility with strength, honesty, and unwavering commitment to the people she served.

“Natasha believed deeply in the future of survivor-led work, the expansion of specialized services for people impacted by the s*x trade, and the need for systemic change to sustain those efforts. She shared SEI’s vision for building responses rooted in lived experience, dignity, and long-term support for the populations our organizations serve. The closure of HER did not diminish the importance of that vision or the impact of her leadership. Her loss will be deeply felt across Baltimore and throughout this work,” said Courtney Ross Escobar, Co-CEO of SEI.

“I am deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Natasha Guynes. Natasha was not only my friend and mentor, but someone whose guidance, compassion, and belief in me played a meaningful role in my recovery journey. Her impact on my life, and on the lives of so many others, will never be forgotten,” said Marcia Spencer, Program Supervisor of Harbor Baltimore, an SEI program.

We extend our deepest condolences to Natasha’s loved ones, former colleagues, community partners, and the many women whose lives were impacted by her leadership and advocacy. Her work leaves a lasting imprint on Baltimore, and her legacy will continue through the countless people and organizations she inspired.

A GoFundMe has been established to assist with Natasha’s funeral arrangements and memorial expenses. If you would like to support those efforts, please visit https://gofund.me/75213e408