Meet Britney Hartman | Executive Director of Justice Takes Flight

We had the good fortune of connecting with Britney Hartman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Britney, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My journey all started with my niece, Gabriella. Gabriella was murdered and through that I found myself in some grief support groups for murdered victims families. When I joined I quickly realized there was a huge lack of help in Missing Persons, so I started volunteering. At first I would just help any case I could find that needed help. Slowly over time I met likeminded people and we started Justice Takes Flight. We got our nonprofit status in Feb 2020. We called it Justice Takes Flight because the case that we all met on was Kelsey Berreth. She was a young mother who was murdered by her fiancé. She was a pilot and loved flying so we used that as inspiration and that’s how we got our name.

I ultimately realized that there is not enough support for missing persons and their families. Families will open a missing persons report and the cop takes information but they don’t help them with flyers, support, or other resources. We exist to help close that gap. In domestic violence, murder, and other instances you get a victims advocate. There needs to be an advocate for the missing and their families. Families need more support and guidance when they are going through one of the hardest things they ever had to deal with.

What should our readers know about your business?
Justice Takes Flight is a nonprofit organization that helps find missing persons. We also offer support and resources to families. We are all volunteers that have a passion for finding the missing. Each of us have our different reasons for volunteering, but all of us have our heart into this. We make sure the family of the missing feel heard and supported. We will help with flyers, searches, drones, tracking dogs, private investigators, and more. Each case is different, each family has different needs. We are always adding more resources and support.,

Our biggest challenge has been and still is getting our name out to the people who need it. Families don’t know we exist and can help. We have tried to overcome this challenge by putting on demonstrations in the community to show how tracking dogs work and explain who we are and what we do. We also have purposely built a wide range of connections so we are prepared no matter what city the missing person is in. This has helped gain followers and people who alert us when they see a flyer or post we could help with.. We are always coming up with ways to engage the community and build that network. When we have a missing unhoused person case we take flyers out to the unhoused community along with little goodie bags. Inside each back is a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, socks, food, water, and feminine products. By building that connection we not only help our community but we help find our missing person and get them back home with family.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take my friend to Estes Park. We would enjoy all the cool little things the town has to offer.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We would not be successful without our followers. Anyone who shares a flyer is helping. Anyone that recommends us to a family in need is a huge help. We are a grassroots effort volunteer effort. We are getting bigger but we are not well known in all of the communities in Colorado. The more eyes we have looking for someone, the sooner they will get home. Most of our success cases are from tips from the public makes after seeing the flyer. So thank you to anyone and everyone who has followed us, shared our info, and supported us.

Website: www.justicetakesflight.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justice_takes_flight/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jtfmissing

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JusticeTakesFlight