I remember the conversation I had with Vednita Carter last year after we attended the groundbreaking for a shelter for victims of sex trafficking.

"It's a good start," she said of the shelter, located in St. Paul.

Carter, the founder of nonprofit Breaking Free, is known as a local gladiator in the fight to end child sex trafficking.

Getting exploited girls off the streets and into a safe environment is an important first step, she said, but what's really needed is long-term housing — something more than the few days or months of security that a shelter can provide.

About a year after that groundbreaking, Carter and her staff at Breaking Free are opening Jerry's Place, a St. Paul transitional housing program for sexually exploited teens.

The program is named after Sgt. Gerald Vick, a St. Paul police officer who was shot and killed while working undercover in 2005.

In an interview Thursday, Carter said that she and Vick often talked about the need for transitional housing for trafficked women.

"He knew that a lot of the women and girls didn't have anyplace to go," she said.

Jerry's Place, which will be run out of a home on the city's East Side, will host up to four girls ages 16 and 17. (Breaking Free has asked that the exact location not be published for safety reasons.) The program will provide a "homelike atmosphere" that focuses on support and advocacy services, and education. It also will help girls develop independent living skills, according to a news release. The girls will be able to live at Jerry's Place for up to two years.

"What sets Jerry's Place apart is that we're providing a real home for the girls," Heidi Carlson, Breaking Free's women's and youth programming director, said in the release.

"Our ultimate goal is to help victimized girls become survivors — healthy, self-sufficient and happy young women."

The grand opening for Jerry's Place will be Oct. 7.