The Modern Abolitionist Blog

Hi! I’m Francesca,

Founder & CEO of Humansave.

When I started this organization in 2017, never did I imagine that we’d be working with kids even younger than my then-3yr-old daughter. I was 26, working in Law Enforcement Intel, when I made the leap to start my own organization. Alongside my mom, known fondly by many as Dr. Franco, we built a mental health nonprofit that strives to connect survivors not just with the life-saving therapy services that they desperately need–our ultimate goal has always been to help our clients more deeply connect with themselves. We want them to know that there is nothing wrong with them; that the thoughts and behaviors they adopted in order to survive things that never should have happened to them can be unlearned. That we would be here in the meantime, as they begin to get to know who they are, and have always been, beneath their armor.

We’ve had cases that have broken my heart and tested my spirit. Cases where the very people entrusted with the safety and care of a beautiful child were the ones who hurt them. The youngest client that we have ever served was 2 years old, and even younger than that when they were first exploited online. We work with Homeland Security, the FBI, local law enforcement, and any organization that is willing to collaborate because we know that it will take everyone coming together to build the kind of community and resources that survivors need (and deserve!) in order to walk the difficult path of healing.

But the greatest gift of working with Humansave is bearing witness to the resilience and sheer strength of these kids, and of the many parents and caregivers who fight for their healing alongside them. It is an amazing privilege to watch the adult survivors, who ALL first experienced abuse and trauma when they were children, fight with blood, sweat, and tears to overcome the hands they were dealt in order to truly thrive.

We have been with our clients through graduations, transitioning out of homelessness, buying their first (and then second!) homes, finding gainful employment, recovering custody of their children (and putting in the hard work to be the parents that they wish they had), and so many who begin to give back to their own communities. This is what has struck me the most–that despite everything they experience on an ongoing basis (because healing is never one-and-done), so many survivors, as soon as they have begun to stabilize, turn around and look for others to offer a hand up to. 

What other proof do we need that the way the world heals is together?

So, as the Founder of this organization–and perhaps most importantly, as a mother of two daughters–
I implore you to join this fight with us. To never let the fallacy of hopelessness stop you from stepping up and doing what you can, with what you have.

Victims and survivors need you.

The world needs you.

We all know what it looks like when the people in power care more for their own pockets than to protect the most vulnerable among us; it’s time to show them the power of healing activated by Love.