September 2013                                                                   Vol 2, Number 9
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  Nola for personal letter

 

Dear HTAP friend,

 
Our ARTREACH marathon of youth programs and train the trainer programs kept us hopping all summer and now we are ready to begin again in October.
 
We are very excited about the success of the Train the Trainer program in Savannah as it represents the second stage of the program - empowering others to conduct the program in their own communities.
 
And, speaking of other communities, my daughter, Joanna, and I went to Spain for a short vacation and I couldn't resist meeting with a member of the Zonta Club of Madrid. Their club is interested in forming a club/community human trafficking effort. We met with Laura Nunez, a finance  professor and Zonta member. We now look forward to working with their club by sending them reports, sharing stories of other successful efforts and anything else we can do to help.
jo, nola, laura
Joanna and Nola Theiss, Laura Nunez
 
Sincerely,
Nola Theiss
Executive Director

Bling Bash 2014

 

  Mark your calendars now: Bling Bash 2014 will be held on April 5 at the Forever Green Shopping Center on Sanibel from 3 to 6 pm.

We are sending out sponsorship letters now. If you or your organization would like to support this event, please let us know.

 

 

Bling Bash to Smash Slavery

Jewelry Request

 

As you know from our previous newsletter in April, our signature fundraising event, Bling Bash to Smash Slavery was a huge success! Therefore, we are starting to gear up for next year's event. The cornerstone feature of the event was the "previously loved jewelry" that was donated by our supporters and we are seeking more this time around.

 

 

If you are a part of a women's group or social club, ask your members for donations of  jewelry at your next gathering or hold a jewelry collection party. Make room in your jewelry box for new pieces by donating the pieces you no longer wear.

We love to get all kinds of jewelry! If we can't sell it, we use it as part of our ARTREACH projects for kids.  

Like any other donation, you will receive a receipt regarding your tax deductible donation.

This year we received donations from as far away as New Jersey!

 

You can either mail your "previously loved jewelry" to HTAP,  PO Box 1113, Sanibel, FL 33957 or you can call the HTAP office in Ft. Myers,

239-415-2635, to coordinate a drop off.  

Southwest Florida Regional Coalition Against

Human Trafficking  

 
  
The Regional Coalition is planning  a community "Slave Free Day" in January for the entire Southwest Florida region. For information about upcoming meetings and events, you can call Allison at 239-415-2635.
  
The next meeting of the Coalition will be held on October 4 at 10 am at the Lee County Board of Education building at 2855 Colonial Blvd, Ft. Myers, FL.
  
The SWFL Regional Coalition Against Human Trafficking has been serving the Southwest Florida community over the past 8 years.

 

Upcoming Events

 

Here is a tentative schedule of events planned for HTAP out of the Southwest Florida area. If you are near one of these locations, let us know and we will give you further information about the event.

  

 

September 25-27 

Toledo, OH

 

October 10-12

Akron, OH

 

January 10-12

Gulf Shores, AL

 

February 6-8

Austin, TX

 

 

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 What's Happening in Your CommunityTIpS training Savannah TtTrainer Savannah JoAnnetrain the trainer Savannah  

 

  Savannah Working Against Human Trafficking (SWAHT) Sponsors Two Train the Trainer Programs

 

Savannah's SWAHT coalition has been working for a number of years to build awareness and organize community efforts
 against human trafficking. Working together with law enforcement,  there have been a number of important cases brought forward and prosecuted.

 

On August 23, Nola Theiss, Executive Director of HTAP, was invited to conduct an ARTREACH Train the Trainer for the local coalition and participants from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Massachusetts. The local group used the HTAP template for the program and procured the materials, food and training locations.

 

Four beautiful paintings were created and were displayed the next day at a training on Awareness and Prevention, using HTAP's TIPS program as a group exercise. Participants were giving the seven trafficking scenarios and the follow up materials so that they can adapt the program in their own communities. This program was spearheaded by JoAnne Garcia-Melendez and Jessy McMullan.

 

     

        

 

 

Zonta Club of Bonita SpringsJr. League community foundation logo 

Thank you Donors!!

 

Since our last newsletters, two of our donors, The SWFL Community Foundation and the Zonta Club of Bonita Springs have generously awarded HTAP grants to continue our Point of Contact, Point of Rescue program in Lee County and expand it into Hendry, Glades, Charlotte and Desoto Counties in Southwest Florida. We are working closely with the SWFL Regional Coalition Against Human Trafficking and, especially, ACT and Catholic Charities. This kind of work can only be done as a collaborative effort and we are thrilled to have so many willing partners and generous supporters. On September 17, members of the Junior League of Ft. Myers worked to put together the first 50 immediate care packs to be distributed to victims. The Junior League supported us with a grant as well.

 

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Nola Theiss and Yaro Garcia of ACT were speakers at the Zonta Club of Sanibel-Captiva meeting on the following morning where HTAP was able to transfer the immediate care packs to ACT in the parking lot.  

 

 In addition to training mall security, first responders, hotline operators and restaurant employees and managers, HTAP has made strong connections with Lee Memorial Healthcare System and will be training their medical staff as well as outpatient facilities under the Point of Contact, Point of Rescue protocol under the Community Impact grant received from the SWFL Community Foundation.

 

In a pilot program, HTAP has trained over 80 of the Emergency Room Staff at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Ft. Myers during their summer training sessions. Teaching them to recognize key indicators of a possible human trafficking victim in their patients is the first step. Following a protocol to report the case so victims may receive vital and necessary services is the second step. We are scheduled to train more of the Lee Memorial Healthcare System Staff in the upcoming Fall months.

 

We are currently visiting all the fast food and late night restaurants, like McDonald's, Wendy's, Denny's and IHOP in Lee County, providing them with informative packs regarding trainings for their staff under the Point of Contact, Point of Rescue protocol. Students from Florida Gulf Coast University are working with us, approaching the restaurants and gathering data. We are hoping that this will charge up our efforts to train the local restaurant industry on how to recognize the signs of human trafficking and how to report any possible victims of trafficking. We are also working with the Florida Attorney General's Office which has initiated a similar program in the last few months.

 

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.

 

We are proud to have our work recognized and supported. The more support we have, the more trainings we can hold and the more materials we can produce and, hopefully, the more victims can be identified.

 

As always, we are willing to share our materials with other  groups in Southwest Florida and beyond. We have wall posters for break rooms and offices and folded wallet size cards with the signs of trafficking and the protocol for reporting signs of trafficking available at no cost.

Artreach Logo

 
  
We had double the amount of fun with kids from the Boys and Girls Club in Bonita Springs and then kids from the Heights Center in South Fort Myers two weeks in a row this July.
The kids ranged from 10 to 17 and 3 to 4 kids worked on each of the 7 paintings. We have made banners to give to the afterschool programs and postcards for each of the participants that show their paintings and the kids working on them. The kids asked great questions and we had time to show videos and use some of the TIPS scenarios.
  
  
We have another program planned for a different location of the Boys and Girls Club in Ft. Myers in October and another in January.
  

 

 

  
 
 
We were asked to write an editorial about human trafficking in the United States for the Public Service Europe online journal.
The article appeared on the website on August19.
You may read it by clicking on this link.
  

Human trafficking: a battle that still needs to be won by Nola Theiss, Executive Director of HTAP.

  
  
  
  
  

Read.Recommend/Act

 

Read/Recommend/Act Campaign

 

Many people have told us that they would like to do something to help fight human trafficking, but they don't have the time or resources to do much. We tell them the first thing they can do to be helpful is to get informed and to inform others.

 

We've selected books that cover a broad range of aspects of human trafficking. Some are written by recovering survivors of trafficking, some by academics, some by reporters and some by fiction writers. International and North American differences and similarities are covered in others and some fit human trafficking into the global issue of violence against women. Some take a particular slant, such as a religious approach, others are very academic. All use case histories to put faces on this subject. We chose books that we felt were well-written, were classics in the field or were on the cutting edge.

 

We've included some popular fiction because the authors have done some research and give a sometimes dramatic twist to the stories. Just as when we watch Hollywood movies about trafficking, we know that fiction is a dramatic interpretation and not a necessarily factual account. Often fiction is what people remember and acts as an incentive to learn more. (Case in point: the movie "Taken")
 

We have divided all of the books into three categories: The Big Picture"; Child Sex Trafficking; Demand and Economic Issues. 

 

We believe that the more available information about human trafficking is, the more likely it is that people will learn and take action. If you'd like recommendations on what action you might take, please contact us at

[email protected].

 

We continue to review books and add to the list. We are open to suggestions.

  • 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.

 

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:

 "The Child Catchers" by Kathryn Joyce 

"Girls Like Us" by Rachel Lloyd

"My Book of Life by Angel", by Martine Leavitt (fiction) (new to the list)

"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 White Umbrella: Walking with Survivors of Sex Trafficking" by Mary Frances Bowley (fiction) (new to the list)

 

Demand and the Economic Issues:

"Bitter Chocolate: The Dark Side of the World's Most Seductive Sweet" by Carol Off 

"The Forgotten" by David Baldacci (fiction)

"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      
fax: 239-292-0230    239-292-3834    877-395-1737
 

 

 

Mailing address: PO Box 1113   Sanibel, FL 33957

 

Our Ft. Myers Office is located in South Ft. Myers. For directions, please email: [email protected]

 

www.humantraffickingawareness.org

 

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


 
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