A peek into how your support is changing lives in Portland, OR
Hello Friends,
We want to give you a peek into some of the ways your support is helping to bring positive change to the lives of women and children in greater Portland who are caught in the vicious cycle of human trafficking.
Understanding how individuals end up being trafficked is essential to knowing how to help. To create awareness and better support for human trafficking victims, our partners at Safety Compass are regularly conducting trainings for law enforcement and community partners. In 2018 alone, Safety Compass provided training for almost 1,200 law enforcement officers and community partners.
The benefit of these trainings is twofold: For one, they enable professionals to identify human trafficking victims. In addition, the trainings profoundly affect the way law enforcement interacts with victims/survivors. Historically, those victimized by human trafficking were viewed as prostitutes and perpetrators, but now law enforcement is shifting its focus to recognize buyers and sellers as the perpetrators. In most cases, the best way to help a victim is not necessarily through the criminal justice system.
Shifting the focus to help rather than blame victims allows them to connect with much-needed personalized care, and Safety Compass offers survivors a variety of vital services. That’s where your support comes in.
Through our Advocacy Sponsorship Program, you make it possible for survivors to access without limit:
24 hour hotline/phone assistance program: Safety Compass manages calls within Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington and Marion Counties. Last year this hotline was used 1,899 times by those seeking personal help and by police and community members who were seeking to help others.
Crisis intervention: A safety planning program enables people who are trying to escape a dangerous situation to receive personalized help. This life saving program was used 1,068 times just last year.
Personal advocacy: When an individual is trying to escape from this terrifying lifestyle, there are a lot of challenging and confusing moments to work through. Safety Compass had 1,104 advocacy interactions last year, in which trauma-informed advocates were able to:
Provide accompaniment to emergency care or a medical forensic exam.
Be present during law enforcement interviews.
Help apply for benefits or the retrieval of personal property and intervention with landlords and creditors.
Be available for any other matters where assistance would be helpful.
Every bit of every dollar you donate towards our Advocacy Sponsorship Program is being used to provide these essential and tangible resources for real people in the midst of seemingly hopeless situations. Every two thousand dollars sponsors an advocate for an entire year. That support changes lives.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
Bucky Buchstaber, Executive Director
If you’d like to give to the FFC Advocacy Sponsorship Program, you can do so below: