By Brooklynn Wong
The city of Anaheim played host to Santa Ana-based nonprofit Grandma’s House of Hope recently as it held its annual gala.
The Phoenix Club opened its doors to hundreds of donors, honorees and Grandma’s House staffers for an evening of wining and dining, but also educating and fundraising.
Je’net Kreitner and her husband Patrick founded Grandma’s House of Hope in 2004 as a way to help what they call “the invisible populations of Orange County”—those experiencing homelessness, human trafficking, and forms of abuse.
For Je’net, the journey has been a particularly personal one. She experienced abuse at the hands of those close to her as a child, and as a young woman, had a time of being a homeless single mother. She vowed that if she got out of the situation, she would spend the rest of her life looking for a way to help those experiencing things similar.
She and her husband’s efforts began, 15 years ago, as hosting women in need in their home in Garden Grove, and volunteering through their church in Orange.
Today they are a bustling organization with a full staff and many programs, that help over 3,500 people per year.
They own properties that serve as transitional housing for those coming out of abusive situations, they run a program that feeds and educates at-risk youth and children living in local motels, and they train individuals to prepare for the workforce to be able to provide for themselves.
They partner with police departments and other organizations through the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force, which was the focus of this year’s gala. “Outraged! Exposing the Truth about Human Trafficking” was the title of the evening’s event.
A number of organizations were presented with awards, including Waymakers and the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force. Accepting the award was Sergeant Juan Reveles of the Anaheim Police Department, who serves on the Task Force.
He spoke with firsthand knowledge of the human trafficking crisis in Orange County, and especially in a big city like Anaheim, with its entertainment hubs and venues that host big events and draw big crowds. He emphasized a common theme of the night, which was that human trafficking is becoming more and more of a domestic problem—it no longer is just a problem that impacts those brought in from other countries; today people are trafficked within the United States, and within Orange County.
Sergeant Reveles said he has the comparatively easy job, of arresting and prosecuting the trafficker, but it’s organizations like Grandma’s House of Hope that have the long-term task of helping the victims and helping them transition back into a healthy and productive life.
Actor Dylan McDermott, of “The Practice” and “American Horror Story” fame, was a guest of honor. He was presented with the Spirit of Hope Award for the work he has done to bring awareness to the issue of human trafficking, including by filming a series about it called “Sweet Jane”, a short portion of which was shown at the gala. McDermott interviewed Kreitner and some of the women at Grandma’s House of Hope as part of the series.
During the live auction portion of the evening, McDermott bid $2000 on a glass of water, and the biggest auction item was a flight in an Anaheim Police helicopter with McDermott as co-pilot.
Kreitner has also recently released her autobiography, “Resurrecting Hope: Overcoming the Invisible Violence of Child Abuse.” It is available on Amazon. Kreitner signed copies of the book for those who purchased it that evening.
The California Foundation for Stronger Communities, Chinese Baptist Church of Orange County and David Fagan of Icon Builder Media also were given spirit awards for their support of Grandma’s House.
Over the course of the evening, $182,000 was raised for Grandma’s House of Hope.
Learn more at grandmashouseofhope.org.
