Lucresia Montez
Lucresia Montez is a seasoned Social Worker with over 18 years of experience in social services, child welfare, crisis intervention, and community-based care. For the past five years, she has specialized in serving human trafficking survivors at San José Clinic, a nonprofit organization in Houston, Texas. In this role, she provides both administrative oversight and direct client services, including conducting intakes with women who have been recovered through law enforcement agencies, the FBI, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC), and various nonprofit partners. She is recognized for her ability to manage sensitive, high-risk cases with professionalism, discretion, and a trauma-informed approach.
Within her current role, Lucresia focuses on connecting survivors to critical, often hard-to-access healthcare services in a specialty clinic setting—an uncommon resource in the Houston area. She coordinates access to medical care, specialty treatment, and dental services tailored to the complex needs of trafficking survivors. Many of the women she serves experience severe health complications, including significant dental deterioration and malnourishment, often linked to substance exposure and prolonged exploitation. Her work ensures that survivors receive comprehensive, compassionate care that supports both immediate stabilization and long-term recovery.
Lucresia’s commitment to this field is deeply personal. As a first-generation college student who grew up navigating significant family and socioeconomic challenges, including divorce and parental alcoholism, she developed an early understanding of adversity and resilience. Coming from a small Oroville community where few pursued higher education, she was one of the few who broke through generational barriers to earn her degrees. These lived experiences inspired her dedication to social work and her mission to help others break cycles of trauma and hardship, while providing the kind of support and opportunity that helped shape her own path forward.
• Pride Facilitator
• Level 4 Group Triple P Facilitator
• Basic Mediator
• Community Health Worker
• University of Houston - MSW, Social Work
• University of Houston-Downtown - BS, Psych
• Director of Community Leadership Award from FBI (2023 for work in 2022)
• Published in Voyage magazine
• Featured on Houston podcast about human trafficking
• San Jose Clinic
What do you attribute your success to?
I want to say my clients. I learn more from them than what they get from me. They teach me how to stay humble, be grateful, not take advantage of things, and to take life a day at a time. Working with human trafficking survivors has shown me resilience and strength in ways I never imagined, and their journeys remind me every day of what truly matters in life.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice that I have ever received is not to take anything personal. Especially working with the population that I work with, because I haven't walked a day in their shoes. Oftentimes, they may be upset at not only what they're going through, but maybe the politics that are involved in them getting services, and often they take it out on those that are most supportive. So I've learned how not to take it personal, and to kind of move forward.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Have an outlet. Take care of yourself. Stay positive. And don't give up, because sometimes you're the last hope that they have, and if you give up, it just increases the recidivism rate of this population. Working with vulnerable populations like human trafficking survivors requires you to maintain your own well-being so you can continue to show up for those who need you most.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges right now in working with such a vulnerable population are scarce resources and funding that has been cut across the board for my international victims. I'm not being able to give them what I know they deserve, a chance at life, with all the political red tape that's going on right now. But I keep being there and consistently being supportive and showing up, in hopes that one day things will come together.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity is the most important value to me, along with honesty and being true to myself. In order for me to be able to help others, I need to be true to myself and make sure that I'm okay. These values guide everything I do, both professionally and personally, because I can only serve others effectively when I'm grounded in my own authenticity and well-being.