First Lady Cecilia Abbott launches 5th annual GRACE Week of Prayer to end human trafficking in Texas

First Lady Cecilia Abbott and state officials on Thursday kicked off the fifth annual GRACE Week of Prayer to End Human Trafficking, urging faith communities across Texas to use posted daily prayer intentions and DFPS resources to spot and report exploitation.

“Nothing is more powerful than Texans helping Texans,” First Lady Cecilia Abbott said, inviting viewers to follow the week’s daily prayer intentions and a new video series of faith leaders on the Governor’s Facebook page.

Janet Casper, administrator of the Governor’s Office Child Trafficking Team, framed the initiative as a partnership among the governor’s office, state agencies, faith-based groups and survivor leaders, and said the scheduled events are timed to coincide with Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services released a 2025 Human Trafficking Prevention Month participation guide that staff said can be used as a full packet or as individual flyers for congregations and community groups. "The guide will offer you opportunities where you too can join in the fight," DFPS human trafficking director Blanca Denise Lance said, describing tip sheets, red-flag indicators from the Attorney General’s office and links to webinars and registration pages.

Lance outlined a January schedule of events that includes a January 10 step-in event at the Texas State Capitol’s South Steps, which she said will feature partners from the Attorney General’s office, the Governor’s Office child trafficking team, survivor-support organizations and elected officials. She also noted January 11 as National Wear Blue Day and said DFPS will host a lunch-and-learn series on Thursdays in January and a Jan. 28 webinar titled "Project Protect Our Children." Lance directed listeners to texasandhumantrafficking.org and the DFPS landing page for downloads and registration links.

The event combined official information with survivor testimony. Yvette Christie, a member of Gov. Abbott’s Human Trafficking Survivor Leadership Council and a Tarrant County task force participant, led a prayerful reflection calling for sustained community education and action: "We lift up every survivor who is doing the work of alchemizing their pain and trauma and making it an offering for our communities to be more aware," she said.

Toni McKinley, executive director of Magdalene House of Austin and a licensed professional counselor, gave a personal account of searching for her daughter and of service gaps for survivors. McKinley said she spent roughly $1,000 on rehab, celebrated nine months of her daughter’s sobriety and then lost her daughter to a fatal relapse on July 4, 2022. "I found her in her room not breathing. I gave her CPR, begging for her life to be spared, but it was too late," McKinley said.

McKinley described capacity constraints at Magdalene House and a broader shortfall in services: "At Magdalene House, we have a wait list of 40 women and turn down about 200 women a year because we don't have the funding or the capacity to help them," she said. She added that in the previous six months staff had been unable to help two survivors who later died, and she urged congregations, nonprofits and public officials to expand supports.

The event closed with multi-faith prayers led by clergy including Bishop Aaron Blake, Rabbi Neil Blomoff and Pastor Samuel Velez, who called for communal healing and vigilance.

DFPS and the Governor’s Office provided multiple avenues for public participation: downloadable flyers and social-media assets, an invitation to the Jan. 10 Capitol event, a Jan. 9 presentation on activating faith communities, a Jan. 28 webinar focused on youth voice, and information on a specialty license plate whose proceeds will support the Stop Human Trafficking Donation Account for residential placements and survivor services. DFPS staff said the Attorney General’s office materials are included in the guide’s red-flag checklists.

The Governor’s Office Child Trafficking Team said daily recorded prayer intentions and related materials will be posted on the governor’s website and social pages during the week. For more information and to download the participation guide, organizers directed listeners to texasandhumantrafficking.org and atgov.texas.gov/grace.

The program combined policy resources, public-events announcements and survivor testimony; organizers emphasized education and reporting while survivor leaders pressed for increased service capacity and funding as a material need to prevent further loss.