As a Congresswoman, Zerqa will work across the aisle to support policies that:
- Invest in addressing food insecurities in poor neighborhoods
- Help curb trafficking and substance abuse
- Provide adequate investment into preventive measures and long-term, sustainable interventive measures
- Provide adequate investment in mental health and other wrap around services to support the victims and addicts
Ohio ranks 5th in human trafficking and 4th in opioid deaths in the country. US District 15 has some of the most affected areas. Forty percent of Columbus’s sex trafficking and drug deals happen on a corridor of Sullivant Ave. in the Hilltop area.
In 2014, Zerqa learned about a gang trafficking minor Muslim girls from Columbus to Nashville, TN, and Minnesota. Being a mother of three daughters, she couldn’t sleep on the fact that someone’s child could be trafficked due to the potential instability of refugee and immigrant parents facing various cultural and language barriers along with economic disadvantages. She dropped all her paid projects, and from her kitchen, she started a non-profit organization to protect and empower youth and parents against drug dealers and pimps.