Training and Awareness Programs Archives - Page 2 of 8

October 18, 2017 by Susanna Bean

Coming 2018: JuST Faith Summit

We’re thrilled to announce the 2018 Faith Summit!

Join us June 20-22, 2018 at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota!

This unforgettable and energizing three-day summit, is loaded with inspiring speakers and educational workshops, all designed to prepare you with practical knowledge and effective action steps to protect the children in your own community.

Whether you are a student, pastor, lay church leader, or congregation member, the Faith Summit has something for everyone. Attendees will learn critical information to prevent sex trafficking and ways to assist in restoration efforts and justice initiatives on behalf of survivors. Bethel College Campus, nestled in the beautiful Land of 10,000 Lakes, provides you a refreshing environment to learn about this pressing social injustice.

Join experts, professionals and people of faith from across the nation to learn how you, and your church, can leverage your resources to tackle sex trafficking from all angles.

Registration

Registration is now open! Register here. Earlybird tickets will be $275 until February 28. After that the price increases, so book your ticket early!

Attendees will have access to a complimentary Faith in Action Kit that includes the complete Chosen Plus community awareness tool, USB with print resources for discussion guides to share about the issue, scriptural perspective and action items in a 4-week study for men’s, women’s and youth groups. This incredibly versatile tool will help you educate your faith community and reach out to your area to protect children from sex trafficking.

What Attendees Are Saying!

“I attended the JUST Faith Conference in Orlando last spring along with one of my pastor friends. As we returned home we were deeply challenged and concerned about how we could take action to motivate our church to get involved in addressing the Minor Sex Trafficking issue in our region. The Faith in Action Kit was the answer. It gave us the tools to engage the youth, men, parents and leadership of our church to begin engaging and informing our church to take action.

Dr. Jay A. Barber, President Emeritus
Warner Pacific College
Portland, Oregon

March 9, 2017 by Guest

New Dates & Give Aways for JuST Conference

Good News – “Bonnes Nouvelles”

The Louisiana Spirit is one of hospitality, celebration and support for their fellow neighbor. Since we announced our new location, locals have been reaching out nonstop to welcome us all to their great state.

That spirit of excitement is infectious, and Shared Hope wants to pass it along to each of you. We’ve come up with three great opportunities for you and your friends to win a free conference ticket for our 2017 event!

Each month, we’ll offer two free tickets until the Earlybird registration deadline on June 16. If your name is drawn, you will have one week to respond to the offer before the opportunity is passed along to someone else. Tickets will be transferrable, but only to individuals who have never attended.

Alumni Drawing on March 31 – The first free tickets will go to our faithful alumni attendees. We’ll draw two names from the attendee lists of our 2014 – 2016 events.

Refer-a-friend Drawing on April 28 – Second drawing will be for you and a friend. In order to be eligible you must “refer a friend” by having them sign up for our conference updates here. When they register, they should enter your name and email so we can track your entries. Each new friend registered is a new entry in the drawing for your free ticket + theirs. The more friends you refer, the better your chances are! Referrals can be logged from now until the drawing, so you better get going…!

Gulf States Drawing on May 31– Third drawing is to support our friends in the Gulf States (TX, LA, MS, AL, FL) that have not been able to send many representatives to D.C. in previous years. Anyone who resides in these states, and signs up to receive Shared Hope conference updates, will be eligible to win a free ticket.

Bad News – “Mauvaises Nouvelles”

Shared Hope recently received news from our event hosts at Hyatt that there’s a conflict with our function space during our selected conference dates. As a result, we have decided to shift the event dates by one week in order to better accommodate our conference attendance.

The new 2017 JuST Conference dates are October 24-26. Nothing else will change. We are still offering the same room rate, the same amenities and activities, the same outstanding lineup of speakers. For those attendees who have already booked hotel rooms or flights, please note that Hyatt has offered to provide support for any attendee affected by this conflict. Hotel rooms have been rebooked already. Fees related to flight changes can be reimbursed by Hyatt, certain restrictions apply. Contact our conference organizer by March 31 to get assistance or instructions for making changes to your travel plans. If you have previously requested an invoice and are no longer able to come, contact our team to submit your cancellation notice.

Reminders – “N’oublie pas!”

Presenter applications: If you or your agency would like to present at the conference this year, applications are due by April 7. They must be completed in full. Visit this link to download the application package today.

Registration: Registration will open at the end of the month, keep an eye out for the announcement.

Booking your hotel: The hotel room block expires September 25th, be sure to book early before it fills up. You can book your room online today by visiting this link.

Mark your calendars for October 24-26 and laissez les bons temps rouler!

January 26, 2017 by Susanna Bean

JuST Conference 2017 Goes to New Orleans!

We’re thrilled to announce that our 2017 JuST Conference is moving to a fun new location: New Orleans!

[easy-tweet tweet=”We’re thrilled to announce the 2017 JuST Conference is moving to a fun new location: New Orleans!” user=”SharedHope”]

Shared Hope is committed to offering you an improved conference experience each year. While we have loved our four years in D.C., we’ve been limited by function space and available amenities. In light of our dedication to excellence, our desire to reach new professionals, and our commitment to keeping the conference affordable, we’re packing our bags and heading to The Big Easy. Here is a city that knows a little something about perseverance, strength and beating trauma. We hope you’ll get a taste of that spirit in October. But location isn’t the only change!

Securing more space means we can offer a broader range of workshops and a more well-rounded conference for all attendees. This year, we’ve ditched the pre-conference in favor of offering 2.5 days of training and plenaries that appeal to all professionals. We’re also pleased to offer breakfast, lunch, and free wifi access for every attendee. As usual, your ticket will provide entry to the full conference as well as the annual networking happy hour.

We’ll be selecting workshops that focus on skill-building, survivor experiences, cross-discipline collaboration, case studies and lessons learned in the areas of investigation, prosecution and therapeutic services.

If you want to join this year’s training team download a presenter application here.

Last, but not least, we picked a city that has the best music and cuisine in America! So, we hope you’ll get out and explore a little. The city is rich in history, entertainment, and local flair.

Check out all the details for registration, conference agenda, hotel, transportation and more, at our JuST Conference website! And sign up here to get a registration reminder. Join us October 24-26 in New Orleans!

January 26, 2017 by Guest

Becoming a Student Activist

As I grew up in the Northern Virginia area, I had no idea that children were being bought and sold for sex up and down the I-95 corridor just miles away from my childhood home and eventual college campus. I, like many people, was introduced to the issue of sex trafficking by unwittingly watching a documentary. Outraged by realities I had never been forced to consider, I immediately wanted to take action and create change. When it comes to an issue as vast as sex trafficking, it can be daunting to know where to even begin. You have passion, ideas, and know you can make a difference. If the question is “where do I start?” the answer is simple: where you are.

[easy-tweet tweet=”If the question is “where do I start?” the answer is simple: where you are.” user=”sharedhope” hashtags=”HTAwarenessMonth” url=”http://bit.ly/2knVDhJ”]

Being a student activist can be tough, but is not impossible. In an attempt to positively channel my outrage about sex trafficking, I worked directly with my university to start a grassroots effort within my campus community designed to develop student activists engaged in educating others about the realities of sex trafficking. Our group worked to provide our community with informational materials, documentary screenings on campus, and open conversations about difficult topics. While researching anything and everything I could find on the issue, I found Shared Hope’s website and was amazed by not only the scope of their work, but also the amount of resources available to me at no cost. Later that year I applied to the Arlington, VA office internship program for the summer 2013 semester and was selected; it’s an understatement to say that my internship experience at Shared Hope changed my life.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Young people are the future of the anti-trafficking movement.” user=”SharedHope” hashtags=”HTAwarenessMonth” url=”http://bit.ly/2knVDhJ”]

I am now a Shared Hope staff member, but because of my internship experience, one of my absolute favorite parts of my job is coordinating the Arlington, VA office internship program. Young people are the future of the anti-trafficking movement and their engagement is critical. Our interns consistently amaze me with their hard work, eagerness to learn, and unlimited talents. Each and every one of our incredible interns has played a crucial role by donating their time, contributing new ideas, working extensively with SHI staff on emerging projects. As a young person, it is imperative for you to know that your passion and efforts matter, your voice and experience matters, and you matter more than you know in the fight to combat sex trafficking. Shared Hope has quarterly undergraduate internship programs in both offices (Vancouver, WA and Arlington, VA) and would love for you to apply.

Learn more about our internship program and view application requirements: http://sharedhope.org/about-us/join-our-team/internship/

By Katie Shaver – Shared Hope International Program & Intern Coordinator

January 11, 2017 by Jo Lembo

You Never Know Who’s In Your Audience

Sometimes grassroots activists feel like they aren’t having a huge impact. Let me share two stories that may motivate you to keep on keeping on!

In 2009 there was a presentation on sex trafficking at the WA state criminal justice training center – a relatively new topic to the general public at the time. The leader from a local church security team attended as a matter of continuing his education on the threats against the youth in his church. After the first general session, he called one of his pastors and said, “You need to come down here and hear this. Our kids are at risk and we know nothing about this!” Clearing her schedule, the pastor arrived just in time to attend the community advocates workshop with Shared Hope International’s project manager. Following that workshop, the Renting Lacy book was distributed to each attendee.

The pastor took home the book and couldn’t put it down; becoming convinced she had to do something. That pastor was me (Jo Lembo). Today I work full-time for Shared Hope International and my husband’s life is also dedicated to fighting sex trafficking. Our head of security had no idea he was introducing me to my life’s calling. And that presenter had no idea that her presentation would completely alter the course of our lives. You never know the impact of the conversation you’re having. Who have you talked to?

[easy-tweet tweet=”You never know the impact of the conversation you’re having. – Shared Hope International Blog by Jo Lembo”]

Shortly after reading the book Renting Lacy, my husband and I met Linda Smith and her husband, Vern. I was passionate about making a difference, but felt I had no skills to truly make an impact. I said to her, “I’m not really making a difference. All I do is talk. I talk to my hairdresser, to my neighbors, to our friends (we could bring down a dinner party in two minutes by sharing ‘what is happening right now just a few miles from this restaurant…’) But I don’t want to be just be a talking head!”

Linda’s response is now the byline for the Ambassadors nationwide. She said, “Never underestimate the power of educating others. The more people who know the signs of trafficking, the smaller the world becomes for those who buy and sell our children.”

Since that encounter, I have learned to share the message with hope and not stop at telling about the issue, but to share what you can DO about it. As the National Outreach Manager, it is my privilege to empower and equip the nearly 1000 Ambassadors nationwide who are ‘talking’ about the issue everywhere they go.

So if you feel ordinary, that’s exactly what we need! People like you to know the signs and what to do to prevent sex trafficking.

Become a trained Ambassador of Hope and make a difference!

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This blog is the first in a Shared Hope Blog Series for Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Stop back throughout the month to our New & Events page to read them all!