November 2014                                                               Vol 3, Number 19
HTAP Logo

Nola for personal letter

Dear HTAP friend,

As always, we've been really busy  -- new offices, new partners and new programs.

One of the things we are most excited about is our new Board. Ten new Board members have accepted a place on the HTAP board and six of our "seasoned" board members are staying on.
We met after the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and now we are juggling everyone's schedule to find a date that works for most of us, hopefully in the first week of December.
Here is a list of our board members. We will be highlighting them in our next newsletters. You can also see more information about their professional backgrounds on our website.
  • Linda Robison, 
  • Karen Pati, 
  • Marietta Meacham, 
  • Joanna Theiss, 
  • Jennifer Massie, 
  • Rickert  (Rick) M. Shewring, 
  • John Lazarro, 
  • Reverend Joseph Gabriel, 
  • Rosemary Boisvert,
  • Tony Martinez, 
  • Therese Everly, 
  • Barbara Kenney, 
  • Jennifer Benton, 
  • John Mattson
Our HTAP family wishes your family a Happy Thanksgiving!!
 
Sincerely,
Nola Theiss
Executive Director


Thank you to the Zonta Club of Sanibel Captiva for everything, every day!! For all the volunteer work which ranges from volunteering at programs, to checking the P.O. box and delivering the mail, to painting the offices, to supporting us financially on a personal, club and foundation level.

This club is responsible for initiating the first meeting of the task force in 2005 and has been an integral part of the work since then!!

The United Congregational Church
surprised us with a generous grant to continue our mission. We thank the ministry and congregation for this contribution.

Also thank you to a new HTAP partner, the Rotary Club of Sanibel-Captiva. We look forward to working with them, supporting their mission as well as our own!!


   
   
 
 
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Red Ribbon Cutting Event at HTAP's New Offices
 
In partnership with United Way and the Greater Ft. Myers Chamber of Commerce, HTAP held a ribbon cutting ceremony at its new offices on Concourse Drive in Fort Myers. Over 90 people attended the event, including some former ARTREACH students who proudly led tours through the HTAP office, reception area and hallways, showing off their efforts. Over 50 paintings were displayed. 
The Southwest Florida Regional Human Trafficking Coalition also has an office in the same building as a United Way partner. This will make continued collaboration even easier!

HTAP's new mailing address is:
7275 Concourse Drive, Suite 400, Ft. Myers, FL 33908
We are excited to be so close to Sanibel, but also able to serve all of Southwest Florida and our other regional partners.
Our PO Box 1113, Sanibel, 33957 still works and we share office space on Sanibel as well. 
 
 Live United!
United Way Campaign Chair, Buddy Kubesh, hosted the 2014-2015 United Way Campaign Kick-off at Harborside Event Center on October 29th.  Pictured is the HTAP staff joining in the fun. Over 800 people from companies, government and partner agencies attended.  This marked the beginning of the 2014-2015 United Way of Lee, Hendry, Glades, and Okeechobee Campaign.

 Human Trafficking Awareness Partnerships (HTAP) is proud to be a United Way Partner Agency.  Our staff participates in our own agency campaign and assists the United Way with campaign presentations to help achieve the United Way's fundraising goal.

 United Way support literally provides the 'roof over our heads', and facilitates our organization as we continue to expand our programs. All money raised during the United Way campaign stays in our local community to help support local partner agencies like ours.

 In addition to raising funds, United Way promotes partnerships and collaborations among agencies, helping us to work together, focusing on issues and solutions that continue to improve lives.

 We urge you to contribute to the United Way campaign. For more information about the campaign, call 433-2000.  You can also learn more and give securely on line at www.unitedwaylee.org.



 
The Unite Award honors collaborative action among agencies in SW Florida. The partnership of the Southwest Florida Regional Human Trafficking Coalition, A.C.T. and HTAP is one of the five finalists for the Unite Award which will be presented to one of the 5 finalist collaborations in January, 2015. 

Theresa Flores, Human Trafficking Survivor
 
Theresa Flores
Learn More about Theresa
HTAP, in conjunction with the SWFL Regional Human Trafficking Coalition and A.C.T., will be featuring guest speaker Theresa Flores on 

December 8th at 7pm at the United Way, 7273 Concourse Drive, Fort Myers, FL 33908. 

The event is free and open to the public, however seating is limited to the first 100 people who RSVP.  
 
Theresa is coming to this region to conduct primary research with other survivors of human trafficking, the majority of which are currently receiving treatment through ACT. Living in an affluent white suburb, Theresa was only 15 years old when she was trafficked. None of her siblings or her parents had any idea of the hell she was living through. Theresa not only survived, but now she empowers other survivors and continues to help create awareness across the country. Her book, "The Slave Across the Street", was on the Wall Street Journal's and USA Today's best selling lists. She has been featured on Nightline and America's Most Wanted, and was a guest on the 700 Club, the Today Show, and MSNBC's Sex Slaves- The Teen Trade. She has also been instrumental in getting human trafficking legislation passed in the state of Ohio. 
 
In October we were also honored to hear Holly Austin Smith, a survivor and the author of "Walking Prey", an excellent book that covers her growth of understanding about human trafficking. Her presentation was sponsored by SWFL Public Service Academy. 
                
Nola Theiss, HTAP; Holly Austin Smith, Author/Survivor; Therese Everly, HTAP board member; Matthew Zeik, Catholic Charities

 



Thank you to all who have been sending in their direct mail campaign donations to HTAP. We've been asking you to stretch a little to help us through this time of expansion of our programs, and the generosity you've shown us in response is overwhelming, and very much appreciated.

We are proud of our Gold Participant status on the GuideStar Website, which is an important symbol of transparency and accountability.

You can donate in many ways! 

You can donate through PayPal:



 or send a check to us at:

HTAP
7275 Concourse Dr. Unit 400
Fort Myers, FL 33908

Thank you in advance!!!


Artreach Logo
Florida Gulf Coast University Students and Florida Baptist Children's Home
 
For the first time ever, a group of students, through their Foundations of Civic Engagement Course, chose our organization to complete their Civic Engagement Project (CEP) by setting up an ARTREACH program on their own.  Working with Erika, the HTAP Program Coordinator, they arranged a full day training at HTAP facilities to do a Train the Trainer program and produced 2 paintings themselves.  The students then made arrangements with the Florida Baptist Children's Home in Ft. Myers to conduct a program. With the assistance of Erika, the students educated the students and worked with them on their painting.


TIPS logo
HTAP Partners with New Horizons of SWFL

Throughout the months of November and January, HTAP will be conducting TIPS programs at several New Horizon locations throughout Lee and Collier counties. HTAP will be educating the youth at these locations on human trafficking and then taking them through real trafficking scenarios, while Yaro Garcia, the Clinical Director of ACT, will be working with the parents.
This work will be followed by multiple 
ARTREACH programs in the summer.  

Look How Far Our Youth Prevention Programs Have Come....

In just one year, the number of our prvention programs: ARTREACH, TiPS and Train the Trainer have increased exponentially. 
        
        

Much thanks to the Zonta Club of Sanibel and its foundation, The Southwest Florida Zonta Foundation, for giving us a special grant of $1500 to cover the costs of the reproduction of the banners, the composite banners and the postcards which are given to the students and used for training purposes. This important part of the ARTREACH program promises that the artwork will be seen by many, many people. Currently some of the artwork is exhibited at the Heights Center in Fort Myers and at our offices and will be exhibited at the Theater Conspiracy at the Alliance for the Arts in Ft. Myers. We often take the banners with us when we present at events in other parts of Florida and across the country. 


INTERN News
Katie representing HTAP at the Chico's Volunteer Expo

 

Katie and Erica have represented HTAP at the Chico's Volunteer Expo, the FGCU Service Learning Fair, the Lee Memorial Health System Vendor Expo, and the FGCU Human Trafficking Awareness campus event. They have been doing a fabulous job supporting HTAP, and will be graduating next month. We also are working with a new IT intern, Diego Moreno, who has already helped us in many ways! 

We are currently interviewing new interns for the 2015 spring and summer semesters. 

 

 

Point of Contact, Point of Rescue 
Continues to Expand!

Our Safety Officer Trainings at Lee Memorial were a big success. We held 7 trainings for over 200 employees. We are scheduled to do more trainings with OB/GYN and other departments in January. We also conducted a program at the Family Health Center of Fort Myers and are now scheduled for 2 additional trainings with them in December. Our library trainings begin in January at the East libraries.


 

National Conferences and 
Regional Coalition Building

In September, Nola Theiss and Yaro Garcia of ACT presented a workshop,  "Prevention to Protection",  at the 11th Annual International Human Trafficking, Prostitution, and Sex Work Conference in Toledo, Ohio. 


In October, Nola presented a workshop, "Awareness Good, Prevention Better" at the 6th Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking in Lincoln, Nebraska. 

In September Nola and Yaro Garcia conducted a training on Coalition-Building in Sarasota sponsored by the Sarasota World Affairs. This event took place over 2 days and focused on the need for cooperation of many different community organizations. Leaders of many local coalitions around Sarasota and Tampa spoke on a panel and shared their experiences. In addition, 2 survivors and Yaro spoke about the work that is done by the survivor and victim service provider in the "surviving" process. 

 
                    So What Else is New???

A new PSA produced by Salt and Light Productions,  is now available as a youtube video!
Click here to view it 
Take a look at our website! 
We've been updating it and adding new information, including a list and description of our new Board members, as well as Sponsorship information. We've also added an Upcoming Events calendar that includes all events to be held by HTAP, other SWFL Coaltion organizations and large joint events. 

Here are just a few of them that are coming up: 

November 24th- Fundraiser at Foster's Grill at Gulf Coast Town Center; Come eat between 5 and 8pm and HTAP will receive 20% of the proceeds. This fundraiser is sponsored by the FGCU students that completed their CEP at HTAP.

December 13th- Ooh La La Fundraiser- Get some holiday shopping done and support HTAP in the process by shopping at Ooh La La Jewels Du Jour! 
Click to Print this flyer and bring it with you and HTAP will receive 20% of the proceeds.

January  15, 2015: Alliance for the Arts exhibition of paintings and fundraiser. Click here to view the flyer.

And of course, we will be conducting many Point of Contact, Point of Rescue programs and TIPS and ARTREACH programs over the next few months. Volunteers are welcome.

If you see anything of interest on our website that you might like to support or volunteer at, please contact us at info@humantraffickingawareness. org. 



 

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Contact Us!

 

239-415-2635 [Office]

239-292-0230 [Fax]

239-292-3834   

877-395-1737  

info@humantraffickingawareness.org 

  

Sanibel Office Mailing Address: 

PO Box 1113   Sanibel, FL 33957


Fort Myers Office Mailing Address: 

7275 Concourse Drive, Suite 400

Fort Myers, FL. 33908

 

                                                                    

 

www.humantraffickingawareness.org  

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

                                                                                                         

  

 

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