Educate youth to prevent child trafficking & Abuse

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Quarter 2: Expanding Our Reach

As we continued celebrating our 10th Anniversary, Quarter 2 reflected the incredible power of partnership, education, and community leadership.

Throughout the quarter, our mission continued to grow through new partnerships, community outreach, and innovative educational opportunities that expanded our reach across Central Florida. From connecting with families and educators to hosting our first-ever Osceola Family Online Safety Summit, every event reinforced our commitment to educating, empowering, and protecting children from exploitation before it happens.

We had 18 Vendors from around the county including St. Cloud and Kissimmee Chiefs of Police, Senator Moody and Senator Scott’s office attend this event along local community resources for parents!

75 parents and kids were educated and empowered by our incredible panel and then were trained with age-appropriate education so everyone when home with new knowledge and actions to take to keep our kids safe!

Each partnership strengthened our network. Every conversation sparked awareness. And every training equipped children, parents, educators, and community leaders with the knowledge and tools needed to create safer communities.

We educated over 2,200 youth and parents this summer, sharing lifesaving information and education to prevent our youth from being exploited or harmed online. There were great wins at the national level which will find their way down to our everyday lives. In the meantime, I want you to know how much your support in what we do means to me and to our team.

Together, we're building a future where prevention is possible, protection is prioritized, and every child has the opportunity to grow up safe.

Expanding Central Florida and Beyond:

• Hosted our First Annual Osceola Family Online Safety Summit, bringing together families, educators, law enforcement, and community leaders for a day of prevention education and online safety sponsored by Orlando Health and TOHO Water Authority! 
• Expanded community partnerships through outreach events, conferences, and collaborations with schools and local organizations across Central Florida.
• Connected families with mental health and online safety resources, reinforcing the importance of prevention, education, and overall well-being.
• Celebrated our 10th Anniversary by continuing our $10 for 10 Campaign, helping raise support to expand life-saving prevention education.
• Participated in GlobalGiving Bonus Day, empowering donors to help extend our reach and bring prevention education to even more children, families, and schools.

May

May was a month of deep reflection, change and hope. We sadly lost one of our long time marketing consultants to cancer. Her loss is still felt today. Will remember the first time we had breakfast discussing the opportunity to work together. She was so excited. Her passion and talent got us through the early years and we will miss her. 

The month brought more change as one of longest standing partners, who came to us as an intern moved away. She was our CEO's right-hand person with operations. She still works with us remotely and we miss her face weekly at the trainings. 

The hope that came next is what was miraculous! Teaming up with Parents from around the nation to advocate for one of the most important pieces of online child safety legislation, Kids Online Safety Act in Washington DC. Standing side by side with those parents who've experienced such tragedy of losing a child to cyberbullying, online exploitation or sextortion is something that never leaves you. There are my continued inspiration. We know the more youth we train, the fewer children we will lose to this horrific crime. 

Partnering up with another local organization, the Verb Kind, who goes into help incarcerated youth garner reading and testing skills to come back out into the world as a full member of society was such a blessing. We got to educate 30 mentors, and they wanted us to reach the rest of the them over the summer with a virtual training. Together we are keeping kids safe and giving them hope for a life they get to choose. 

We topped off the month by educating Occee Police Dept SRO's (Safety Resource Officers) and turn in a massive grant to expand our work into Osceola. 

June

June marked one of the most exciting moments of the quarter as Paving the Way Foundation hosted the First Annual Osceola Family Online Safety Summit.

This first-of-its-kind event brought together parents, youth, educators, community organizations, and law enforcement for a day focused on online safety, human trafficking prevention, and digital wellness.

Families participated in interactive breakout sessions while hearing from respected experts, including representatives from One More Child, the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the St. Cloud Police Department, and other community leaders.

The summit demonstrated the power of collaboration and reinforced that protecting children requires communities working together through education, awareness, and action.

Paving the Way was recognized by Senator Rick Scott for this incredible milestone in the community!

In addition to that milestone our President and CEO was invited to speak at the Wyoming Attorney Generals Child Safety Symposium which expanded our reach to educate Wyoming Foster Parents later this summer! 

We rounded out the month with one of our favorite local youth partner organizations, After School All-Stars and YMCA Summer Camps by educating hundreds of their members with our Cyber Savvy SMART Training program! 

July

July brought Bonus Day along with several other community events! 

This campaign supported our ongoing $10 for 10 Campaign, celebrating 10 years of impact and helping us work toward our goal of raising $10,000 to expand prevention education throughout Central Florida.

Thanks to the generosity of our community, we continue to grow our 3-Day Cyber Savvy™ Training Program, equipping children with the knowledge to recognize online dangers, empowering parents with practical safety tools, and providing schools with resources that help prevent exploitation before it happens.

One of our favorite events each summer is participating in the Florida PTA Conference is always a highlight of our summer as we get to connect directly with parents and community leaders that make an impact with our youth! 

Our partnerships with the community continue to grow throughout the summer - we participated in several back-to-school events in partnership with Orange County Neighborhood Community Centers educating parents and kids about ways to stay safe online. 

Expanding our PEER Advocacy program this summer was both a challenge and a success! Due to circumstances beyond our control, we were limited to the students we would be able to deliver the program to, however, perseverance made a difference and we educated and empowered 20 youth at the summer camp with Boys and Girls Clubs. Their final projects were terrific! The best part?

They want us to come back in the fall and expand the conversation with their full membership! 

Looking Ahead

As we look into the Fall, we anticipate new partnerships and adventures in expanding our work. We've been invited to partner with the Rotary Youth at the Rotary Youth Leadership events this fall and Citrus Council of Girls Scouts for the Spring of 2027. 

Plus we are teaming up with Central Florida Vocal Arts to bring our award-winning film, Trapped in the Trade to life as an interactive play, giving us a more tools to reach additional children and families not only in Central Florida, but around the nation, through arts.

As the song says, the futures so bright, we gotta wear shades! 

Thank you for your continued support and generosity. We understand there have been challenging times over the past few years and so many of you have stood by us though it all! 

Blessings to you and yours,

Jan

PS as a small token of our appreciation, we've included a link to our Parent Tool Kit. Please download and share. As we go back to school, this conversation is more important than ever! 

Links:

• Trappe in the Trade
• Parent Tool Kit