About RDS

RDS was founded in 2009 in order to provide assistance to a large number of victims/survivors involved in the human trafficking industry in Compton. Before RDS was founded, there were no organizations in the area designed to help human trafficking victims exit the streets. RDS was born from meetings of concerned women from various churches at Citizens of Zion Missionary Baptist Church after consultations with Deputy City Attorney Sonya Dawson and Compton Sheriff Deputy Rafer Owens.

Our first act was to do street outreach. Teams walked Long Beach Boulevard, talking to the victims/survivors and encouraging them to seek a different lifestyle. Very quickly, we realized that if we wanted to facilitate successful transitions from the street, we needed to offer temporary shelter, long-term housing, and other supports.