April 2013                                                                   Vol 2, Number 7
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 Nola headshot

 

Dear HTAP friend,

 
Our Bling Bash was so exciting, especially because it was the first time in our history that we planned a big fundraiser and one that we "made up" by ourselves. We couldn't have done it without all our volunteers and helpers and especially HTAP's two great employees, Allison Martins, Program Coordinator and Yvonne Luckett, Operations Coordinator.
I have just returned from the Freedom Network Conference in Washington DC. These conferences are always professionally stimulating and this year's was particularly informative as there has been no official federal conference for a while. It was an opportunity to network and learn and be impressed by the dedication of those who work in this field.
 
Nola Theiss, Executive Director
Artreach Logo 
We have a brand new ARTREACH program starting today, April 24 at The Heights Center
 in Fort Myers (15570 Hagie Drive) at 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm. We will be working with some awesome kids in the after school program. The program will be every Wednesday until May 22nd.
 
If you would like to volunteer, please contact Allison at 239-415-2635
 
We will be planning additional programs throughout the summer at The Heights Center and at the Boys and Girls Club in Bonita Springs. 

Thank you to the

 

Junior League of Ft. Myers for their generous grant to HTAP to support our "Point of Contact, Point of Rescue" program, FGCU students' fundraising events and volunteers.

 

 

 

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What's Happening in Your Community  

 

  

Bling Bash to Smash Slavery was a HUGE Success!

 

We want to thank each and every one of you who contributed to the day! Bling Bash to Smash Slavery was just a thought that we had last year and with your help, we were able to make it into reality! Thank you to all of the volunteers who donated their time, to the amazing jewelry designers who put in time and effort to hand make jewelry just for this event, to all of those who donated their previously loved jewelry, to the amazing local  businesses who donated items to be auctioned off. We surpassed our fund raising goal by a long shot and we could not have done it without YOU! 

 

Nola at Bash 

      

   

 

  

Thank YOU for helping us raise money to END slavery!

 

 

We Love Our Volunteers!

 
Non-profits would have a hard time to do what they do without the help of volunteers. That's definitely true at HTAP. We could not be as successful as we have been without our volunteers!

There are many opportunities to volunteer with HTAP to make a difference in our community. We always need help with ARTREACH programs. We are scheduling programs throughout the summer months. We will be working with kids from The Heights Center throughout April, May, and June. We are in the process of setting up programs with The Boys and Girls Club in Bonita Springs as well as Next Level Church. If you love creating art, working with kids, are interested in learning more about human trafficking or you just want to get involved, definitely make sure to sign up to volunteer at an ARTREACH program!

Another way to help is to volunteer with a fundraising event. We host a few events throughout the year, from Bling Bash to Smash Slavery to the Theatre Night at The Alliance for the Arts. However, this year we have seen an increase of fundraising events conducted by our supporters. Women in the Wind motorcycle club is hosting a poker run on May 18th.  


Other examples of our supporters hosting fundraisers is a group of students from FGCU connecting with Fosters Grill at Gulf Coast Town Center, who donated a portion of their sales to HTAP! 

Want to help, but you're not in the area? Host your own fundraising event in your town. Select a documentary about human trafficking and host a viewing at your house. Host your own awareness campaign in your community or college campus. Start a social media campaign to raise awareness about human trafficking and HTAP. There are many many ways to participate from your own town. Don't let distance interfere with your need to help!

If you don't want to help with programs or fundraisers, we are always in need of help in the office! From stuffing envelopes to filing paperwork, we need it all! We are also in need of IT support, website re-developing, and networking connections! 
  
Get involved today! Contact Allison to find out how YOU can help! 

Introducing HTAP Newest Employees
 
Meet Yvonne Luckett
 
Yvonne is HTAP's newest employee, the Operations Coordinator. She is responsible for managing day to day operations, including maintaining financial records and data base, assisting with and developing effective fundraising events, and developing sponsorships and participation from individuals and corporations.
 

Prior to joining Human Trafficking Awareness Partnerships, Yvonne worked for two major healthcare systems, one for profit and one not-for-profit. During this time, she served in various leadership roles related to operations, business development, marketing and communications, finance, and compliance. She also worked with doctors' offices to cross-train employees and in that same spirit will be assisting with all HTAP programs.

 

She graduated summa cum laude from Hodges University with a Masters of Science in Management. She has volunteered for PACE Center for Girls, which provides girls and young women the opportunity for a better future through education, counseling and advocacy. She has also volunteered at The Shelter of Gaston County for abused women, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Lee County, and served as both a classroom volunteer and the volunteer coordinator for over 150 volunteers at Tropic Isles Elementary, a Title I program school. In addition, she has fostered numerous children in the Southwest Florida area.   

 

We are excited and happy to have Yvonne on our team. We are lucky to have her! 

 
Meet Allison Martins
 
Allison is HTAP's Program Coordinator. She has been with HTAP since August 2012. She is responsible for developing new programs and managing existing programs that are designed to train and educate the community about the issue of human trafficking both in the United States and abroad. She also works as a victim advocate and counselor at Project HELP, Inc., a non-profit crisis and sexual assault center in Naples, Florida, with the responsibility of helping survivors of sexual assault and sudden death find a path towards healing.
 
Prior to joining Human Trafficking Awareness Partnerships, Allison graduated magna cum laude from Florida Gulf Coast University with a bachelor's degree in Psychology. She has experience with volunteering for Project HELP, Inc. as a crisis hotline volunteer and volunteer victim advocate, where she was, and still is, responsible for providing crisis intervention to hundreds of callers. She also has worked with the American Widow Project (AWP), a non-profit whose mission is to unify and connect the new generation of military widows, as a peer mentor for the past three years and most recently as the Southwest Florida AWP Ambassador and spokesperson.
 
Allison was recently accepted into the Master's in Social Work program at Florida Gulf Coast to pursue her dream of becoming a Clinical Social Worker.   
 

 

 

 

Point of Contact, Point of Rescue Update

 

HTAP and the Southwest Florida Regional Coalition Against Human Trafficking has been very busy working on the "Point of Contact, Point of Rescue", educating and building awareness of human trafficking and teaching employees how to recognize the signs of trafficking in public areas.

 

We have been working diligently to reach all of our area shopping malls. We have created easy to read business card fold-overs with the 10 signs of trafficking and the reporting protocol to give to those who we have been trained. They can reference these cards in a time of need.

 

We have also gotten approval to conduct trainings in the area hospitals and clinics. This is a huge step in the right direction for the "Point of Contact, Point of Rescue" program. We will be training doctors and nurses who come in contact with trauma patients. We will give them the questions to ask their patients that may elicit answers that may indicate trafficking.

 

Much of the time, victims do not know they are victims, therefore, if we can increase the number of individuals who know how to recognize the signs of trafficking then we can identify more victims and get them more help.

 

We are also proud to announce that we have received a $3,000 grant from the Junior League of Fort Myers for the "Point of Contact, Point of Rescue" program to help fund rescue packs for identified victims of trafficking. The rescue packs will be distributed by ACT, Catholic Charities and other agencies in the Southwest Florida Regional Coalition Against Human Trafficking who help victims of trafficking resore their lives. Inside the rescue packs, there will be carefully chosen items that carry the program logo discreetly and a phone number that they can contact to reach an advocate. If you would like to help fund more rescue packs please feel free to contact either Nola at [email protected] or Yaro Garcia at [email protected].

 

If you would like to make us aware of a location you believe may need attention, please contact us at  [email protected] or give the office a call at 239-415-2635.

  

 As always, we are willing to share our materials with other  groups in Southwest Florida and beyond.

 

A special thanks to the Southwest Florida Community Foundation and the Junior League of Fort Myers for their support of this program.

 

Research and Materials You May Be Interested in.
 
There is new interest in the role of men and boys in the fight against human trafficking. The Renaissance Male Project (www.renaissancemaleproject.com) has a list of 10 things men and boys can do - everything from challenging the glamorization of the Pimp culture to talking to other boys and men about the issue in "male spaces. Click here to get the list: 10 Things
  
Think about it: a very high percentage of females are victims of trafficking, but an even higher percentage of traffickers and users are male!!
 
Two excellent reports have recently come out -
One is called "Identifying Challenges to Improve the Investigation and Prosecution of State and Local Human Trafficking Cases Executive Summary". Data was collected from 140 closed local cases and some of the findings are dramatic. It lists recommendations and promising practices. Click here to get to the report.
 
The second report is called "Coordination, Collaboration, Capacity and it is the Federal Strategic Action Plan on Services for Victims of Human Trafficking in the United States 2013-2017. The Feds are asking for input until the end of May and the final plan will come out in the Fall. This is your chance to have input in the direction of human trafficking efforts. I was convinced at the Freedom Network Conference that it is worth our time to study this document and comment on it.

 

 

  

Read.Recommend/Act  

 

Read/Recommend/Act Campaign

 

We believe that the more available information about human trafficking is, the more likely it is that people will learn and take action.

  • Read these books and learn more about human trafficking.
  • Recommend these books to your local library and bookstores and encourage others to read and buy these books.
  • Act on what you've learned.

 

 

HTAP's Recommended Reading List

 

The Big Picture:

*"A Crime So Monstrous" by E. Benjamin Skinner

*"Ending Slavery: How we Free Today's Slaves" by Kevin Bales

*"Half the Sky" by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn

*"Not for Sale" by David Batsone

*"In Our Backyard; A Christian Perspective on Human Trafficking in the United States by Nita Belles

* "Invisible Chains: Canada's Underground World of Human Trafficking" by  Benjamin Perrin

 

Child Sex Trafficking:

*"Girls Like Us" by Rachel Lloyd

*"Renting Lacy; A Story of America's Prostituted Children" by Linda Smith

*"Somebody's Daughter" by Julian Sher

*"Stolen Lives" by Jaycee Duggard

*"The Slave Across the Street" by Theresa Flores

*"The Slave Next Door" by Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter

*"A Walk Across the Sun" by Corbin Addison (fiction)

* "The Child Catchers" by Kathryn Joyce  (new addition)

 

Demand and the Economic Issues:

*"The Johns" by Victor Malarek

*"The Natashas" by Victor Malarek

*"Nobodies" by John Bowe

*"Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery" by Siddharth Kara

 

 

Contact Us: [email protected]

239-415-2635       239-292-3834    877-395-1737

PO Box 1113   Sanibel, FL 33957

www.humantraffickingawareness.org

 

HTAP is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization which depends primarily on private donations.


 
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