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Aid will help Medford sex-trafficking survivor focus on new life Mercedes Pickard, a survivor of sex trafficking and mother of two, was recently awarded six months of rent from a local charitable organization. Mail Tribune / Jamie Lusch Monday Oct 31, 2016 at 12:01 AM Nick Morgan Mail Tribune @mtcrimebeat Mercedes Pickard's studio apartment may not be spacious, but for the next six months, the sexual-abuse survivor and mother of two will be able to focus on her new start rather than rent. A locally funded charitable organization will cover half a year of Pickard's rent at her west Medford home while she works toward an associate's degree at Rogue Community College. The 26-year-old says she wants to use her education to find a career helping sex-trafficking victims shed their old lives.  "That's my calling, for sure," she said. Pickard submitted an online application in June for the JonesCares housing assistance and had long since put the program out of her mind. Moments before Pickard got a call from the group in October, she had been sitting in her car feeling overwhelmed about her expenses, which included repairs for her 1990s Toyota Camry sedan, traffic tickets and tuition. The timing of Kelly Jones' call leads Pickard to consider the award as divine intervention, but Jones said she saw a strong woman who could benefit from her and her husband's help. "She's a fighter," Jones said. "She's a wonderful human being and we've really enjoyed getting to know her." Though Pickard is the first recipient of what Jones called a "financial makeover," Jones said she and her husband, Herstle, hope to offer similar assistance to another person six months from now. As a template, JonesCares used a nonprofit affiliated with Gradient Financial, focused on rent or mortgage assistance, but Jones said she hopes to broaden the ways they can help locally. "We'd like to take care of the whole person," Kelly Jones said. The award, valued at roughly $6,000, will directly pay Pickard's landlord and will also help Pickard with past traffic tickets, vehicle repairs and a laptop computer for her school work. "They live very simply, and she's working hard to get through college," Kelly Jones said. Pickard said she'd saved her most challenging courses for the end, and is currently tackling Art History, Physics and Statistics toward her degree in human services, all while balancing motherhood for her 7-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter. Life as a student is very different from what she knew two years ago, when circumstance forced her out of a California transitional living facility and away from the state and her eight-year career as an escort.  She came to Southern Oregon, where she ultimately found her way out of sex work through the Dunn House shelter. "I wouldn't take it back, but I wouldn't go back," Pickard said. Pickard is more interested in her future than her past. She'll work as a victim's advocate once local nonprofit Redemption Ridge opens its Grace House shelter for trafficking victims in December. "It's a really powerful feeling when you can help people who feel really lost," Pickard said. She sees her upcoming job as providing the family-style emotional support that many trafficking victims don't otherwise have. Toward that goal, Pickard also recently completed a 40-hour training for Redemption Ridge, picking up caretaking tools to manage her own post-traumatic stress disorder while caring for victims with acute needs. "If you have a heart, you definitely get pulled in," Pickard said. Sharing her one-room home with two kids can be a struggle, but it's also a space she nurtures and values. She said she's grateful for the ability to support herself and her family in a healthy way. "It really is a sanctuary," Pickard said. "Even this small little studio, it really is a home." Those interested in applying for future awards through the agency should call Jones & Associates at 541-773-9567 or apply online at www.jonescares.org. Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MTCrimeBeat.