MEET THE TEAM
Laurie Coffman
Laurie has been married to her high school sweetheart, her husband Lance, for over twenty eight years and is the proud mother of 3 amazing kids. She has served in various capacities in ministry over the past 27 years including, Youth, College, Young Adult, Women’s Ministry, Church Administration, and Senior Pastoring. Laurie also is the Founder and President of The Hope Initiative, a 501 (c)(3) Non- Profit Organization that is battling sex trafficking through awareness and rescue in San Joaquin County and the Central Valley. Laurie is marked by her contagious passion for people and the Gospel. She has a special way of pulling out the gold of those around her and releasing hope everywhere she goes. She is passionate about building up the Kingdom of God, living life to the fullest, chasing after her dreams, and changing the world around her. She will inspire you to do the same!
Melissa Herrmann
Melissa Herrmann, Founder of Emerge Counseling and Consulting and Co-Founder of M 3 Transformations, has spent the past 18-years focused on working directly with children-at-risk and vulnerable women across the globe. Her efforts have entailed establishing and directing numerous children’s homes and residential facilities, developing community-based programs, training thousands of professionals and organizations around the world, and providing trauma counseling and psycho-education. Her program models have been recognized by multiple governments, which led her to assist the government of Rwanda in nationalized orphan-care policy
reform. Her work was in collaboration with organizations such as UN, USAID, and World Vision. Melissa has sat on numerous counsels, collaborative groups, and NGO board of directors seeking to provide insight into policy reform and program development for traumatized populations.
Dr. Ayesha Hunter
I specialize in working with people of color and all others who need support. I also come from a Christian perspective, although I am open to working with people from all backgrounds. I have been formerly trained in trauma-informed practices and I am a Certified WRAP Facilitator. And trained in EMDR. I sincerely care about helping people overcome their tragedies and I whole-heartedly support recovery from trauma, addictions, and life experiences that could potentially provide setbacks. I believe the saying, "A setback is a setup for a comeback!"​ I am in the process of becoming a Traumatologist. I have over 15 years of providing psychotherapy. I inspire others and empower them to overcome their life tragedies. I work with children from ages 3 on up and adults. Including marital/couple's therapy (gay and straight) and family therapy. I provide clinical supervision and psychological evaluations.
Kristin Shinn
My name is Kristin and I am a wife, mother of 5 boys ranging from their teens to adults, and I made it out alive. I know what it’s like to be a young girl listening to all of the wrong voices in my life. I was raised in the church but at the age of 16, I moved out of my mom’s house and decided to do it my way. “My way” consisted of dropping out of school, living in a drug house, and becoming pregnant by the age of 17. Although I was not trafficked personally, I have seen my own life go down an unintentional road of destruction. There is so much that has happened between that time of my life and now. I am a high school teacher and have been married for 10 years. God saved me and redeemed me, pulled me out of that situation (after many years of running) and now I have something to share and give back to my community. I’m nowhere near perfect, but that’s what God loves to use… if we just say yes to Him.
Danielle Gilmore
My name is Danielle and I grew up in the sunshine state, Florida. And I moved to the west coast in 2015 and graduated from Mercy Multiplied in 2017. Mercy Multiplied is a Christian residential counseling program, helping woman who face a variety of circumstances that have impacted their ability to function. Being at Mercy has helped me break free from lies I believed since childhood, which led me down some dark paths. Since Christ has set me free, I am free indeed. And I am privileged to share the gospel and the message of hope in Christ to whom ever God puts in my path. Im also passionate about gardening, harvesting flowers, and making flower arrangements. And love teaching and sharing with others the many skills I’ve been gifted with. My hope for Hope initiative is to be a resource for woman to find freedom in Christ!
Jessica M.
I survived and I'm proof that this organization works! Through hard work, dedication and so much support I've gone on to excel in every aspect of my survivor's journey. After walking my path of healing I began to volunteer and do outreach. Quickly moving on to conferences and public speaking. I currently serve as a Survivor's Advisory Board member. I'm an avid HT awareness and prevention advocate. Currently working on awareness and prevention curriculum for high school students and faculty. Currently authoring my own story in the hopes that I can prevent someone else from experiencing the trauma of human trafficking.