Welcome to Breaking Free!

Sergeant Jerry Vick's Legacy

Breaking Free, Inc., was established in October 1996, by Vednita Carter, Executive Director, as a non-profit organization, serves women and girls involved in systems of prostitution/sex trafficking and other battered women who have been involved in the criminal justice system. Breaking Free, Inc. has a Governing Board of Directors with eight active members, from diverse backgrounds.

The Advisory Group has 6 participants (two are youth), all of whom are survivors of prostitution or advocates, who advises and works closely with the Board of Directors and Executive Director, Program and Development Director to encourage advocacy and programming. Its main office is located in St. Paul with a satellite office in Minneapolis.

Organizational Goals:

To expose prostitution as violence against women.

To educate the community about the effects of commercial sexual exploitation on women and girls.

To provide supportive services to prostituted women/youth to premit escape from violence and exploitation.

To operate within a culturally appropriate and age and gender-specific context

To provide Supportive and Transitional Housing and rental assistance to our target population

Philosophy Statement:

We understand prostitution as a vicious cycle of violence, incarceration, and addiction. We understand how repeated experiences of violence undermine women’s and girls’ capacities to avoid further victimization and how prostitution distorts the lives of prostituted women and girls.