Educate youth to prevent child trafficking & Abuse

Q1 was another extraordinary time of impacting youth and families around Central Florida and beyond!

We educated over 1,567 youth in the first quarter a great start to educating and empowering our communities!

We continue to partner with local youth focused organizations and reach out to new organizations to reach more youth and their parents. A few of the new groups we worked with and events we participated in last quarter were:

• IhopeMentoring
• After School All Stars
• DC - Advocating with youth to hold big tech accountable
• YMCA
• 3 Red Sand educational events in Orange, Osceola, Seminole Counties
• Human Trafficking Acedemic Book Launch and Awareness Days
• Polaris Awards
• Educated youth and parents with the East River Cheyenne Tribe
• Educate parents at Annunciation Catholic Church and 4th-8th grade students at Annuciation Catholic Academy
• Trained team members and their children at AAA - our first foray into the business space

Happy to say we are getting more traction with parents as they are realizing this tool, called a phone, can also be used as weapon against our kids. As one of my friends calls apps and games - Digital Narcotics. Giving parents the knowledge and empowering them to have those conversations with their kids.

We continue our partnershp with OCPS (Orange County Public School) as we have now formed the OCPS School Board Human Trafficking Prevention and Awareness Advisory Committee of which are President is the Chair. The goal will be to expand education out to the community and parents attending schools. Foster youth is a group of youth we are looking to work more with as they are some of our most vulnerable population.

We trained 220 additional Care Cooridinators, SAFE officeers and Social Workers in Febuary and SEDNET members as we begin to gear up to go into the schools.

Additional opportunities continue to arise for us in other school district as we expand into Osceola and Seminole Counties.

Our children are under attack online; education is only part of the solution. Important pieces of legislation are being worked on at the Federal level will help protect our kiddos online. Why that's important is the most recent reports from NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) there continues to be a rise in online extortion of our kids - the target age remains 10-13. There were over 36 million cybertips, 66,000 coming from the state of Florida.

Our education saves lives and that is why your support is so important.

We look forward to another powerful and impactful year making a difference with youth in our communities.

Thank you!

Jan

Links:

• Our President is an Orlando Family Magazine Superwoman

 Q4 was the culmination of an extraordinary year!

We won multiple grants, the Victory Cup and had and outstanding matching raise for to go into 2024 equiped to do our work and train even more youth!

We educated over 10,000 youth and parents this year - a record year of education and empowerment!

Here is a brief list of the organizations we got to partner up with and empower children to disrupt the cycle of exploitation:

-       Added Elevate Orlando – 3 High Schools, 6 Middle Schools

-       Orange County Parks and Rec Training

-       Foster Grandparents Training

-       Participated in mulitple Community events

-       DC Youth on the Hill – Advocating with youth to hold big tech accountable

-       Attended DC NCOSE Gala and advocated on the Hill

-       Trained at the Statewide DJJ Conference

We trained our first group of youth at an addiction Center and their staff. That was terrific and very rewarding. These kiddos get the impact over time.

We also had an opportunit ty to train PI's with the Florida Alliance of Legal Investigators in Tampa!

Foster youth have become newer opportunity to educate both the youth and those that surround them as we added a Medical Staff Training for Special Needs Foster Youth

We had our Inagural in person fund raiser for Lights on For Children Fundraiser on 11/18! We had over 60 people attend and raised about $3,000. It was a lovely evening with a brave teen sharing the difference our education made for her and her family.

One of the most exciting thing we've accompished this year was creating a partnership with Orange County Public Schools - by having a Proclmation read at the Board Meeting declaring January as Human Trafficking Prevention Month for all of OCPS. 

We trained 150 Care Cooridinators, SAFE officeers and Social Workers in December to get us ready to go into schools and train the students.

We've also added YMCA After School programs along with After School All Stars into the training mix for 2024 - we are thrilled to be reaching so many of our youth!

One of my favorite moments of the fall was a young man came up to me after our 1st day of training, he was very engaged during the training and asked us when we were coming back. I said "next week", he said, "oh is that it?" I said "yes", he got sad and said, "oh, that's too bad. This was fun."

Apparently, we continue to make education fun and engaging with middle schoolers on a challenging topic.

Lastly, one my hearts desires and goal is to educate the youth in our tribal nations in the United States. As a member of the Cherokee Tribe and direct desendant of the Trail of Tears, bringing hope and light to our family was realized in December when I had the opportunity to educate over 100 Lakota Nation Teachers, Administrators and Leaders about human trafficking and online exploitation, what to look for and ways they can help prevent it by talking with their kids.

It was a most memorable year of impact and we are grateful for you being on this journey with us.

We look forward to another year of big impact. We truly apprciate your continued support and belief in this mission.

Thank you!

Jan

Jan Edwards

Chief Change Maker

Links:

• OCPS Proclaims January 2024 Human Trafficking Prevention Month
• Local News Covers Paving the Way Foundations work