Latest News - Page 39 of 120 - Shared Hope International

June 23, 2017 by Susanna Bean

Tanya’s Story at Mission 21

Mission 21 shares the story of Tanya, one of the survivors they served during the organization’s time in the Shared Hope Partners Program. Read Monday and Wednesday’s post to catch up on the rest of the Mission 21 story as they graduate from our Partners Program!

The whole day was spent shopping for new clothing for Tanya age 13. After being referred to our specialized foster care program immediately after her court appearance, she arrived at her host home in sweat pants and a hoodie and a pair of jeans stuffed in a Walmart bag. Tanya was upset. She was sure that the judge would let her go home that day. After all, her social worker said that all she needed to do was stay put for 35 days and she did. Why was everything not like they told her it would be?

“I’m not going to school. I don’t like it. Besides, I’m not going to be here for very long.” Tanya said matter of factly. “If I’m not out of here in 3 weeks, I’ll run. I’ll find a way.”

Her tough attitude didn’t hide the fact that she was very scared however. Nothing made sense.

“Well, how about we take this one day at a time and go get you some new clothes tomorrow? Would you like that?”

[easy-tweet tweet=”At Mission 21, we meet girls and families where they are at.” user=”SharedHope”]

At Mission 21, we meet girls and families where they are at. In Tanya’s case, we were able to see that she had some immediate tangible needs that we could assist her with in order to get her feeling comfortable and cared for. The following day, we bonded over outfit selections, make up and funky colored socks. All the while, as we drove from place to place, talking about life and expectations on both ends. After a quick bite to eat, she joyful skipped to the car saying, “I can’t wait to go to school!”

Surprised to hear the sudden change of heart I had to ask, “What? I thought you didn’t want to go to school? What changed?”

“To be honest, I didn’t have clothes before and the other kids would bully me so I didn’t go. But now… I’m gonna look really cute!”

As a community resource for youth survivors and their families we were pretty happy to be able to meet this seemingly small need for this kid. But something as simple as donated clothes from our partners at the Salvation Army and some new essentials bought with the support of our donors, we were able to see a complete change in attitude towards her giving school a shot again. Like Tanya, most of our youth participants experience poverty which makes them very vulnerable to being sexually exploited. Although providing some of these physical needs did not address all of her needs it was a great start. Providing her with a safe place and getting her back to school is just the beginning of a long road to healing. Like with Tanya and the rest of the girls referred to our program, we are in it for the long run and we thank you all for backing us up.

June 21, 2017 by Susanna Bean

A Partner’s Experience – Mission 21

This week we are interviewing Stephanie Holt, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Mission 21, one of the organizations that is graduating from our Partners Program! Read Monday’s post and watch for the last post on Friday featuring the rest of the Mission 21 story!

What was your favorite part about being a Shared Hope partner?

I remember vividly the day that I called Shared Hope International. Here I was, a young, zealous, nervous new founder. In my early research on everything I could learn about this movement I came across the Shared Hope website. I decided to call and see if I could talk to anyone about what to do next. Surprised and completely unprepared, Elizabeth Scaife answered the phone and spent over an hour sharing all sorts of invaluable wisdom.

I remember hanging up with her and squealing with happiness and excitement. It was as if I had just won the lottery. This has been my favorite part of partnering with Shared Hope International. Even before our formal partnership, I appreciate the transparency and willingness to equip young organizations to do the most good. I was so lucky to have had an invitation to join the Restoration Shelter Working Group in 2010, with a nomination from Heather Callier at Breaking Free and a second motion Emily Fitchpatrick from Hope House at that time. This early mentorship and real-talk training was an incredible opportunity that fast forwarded Mission 21’s progress and credibility. The people that make up Shared Hope International, have been my favorite part of our journey together. Authenticity, ability, passion, wisdom and heart has been just as valuable, if not more valuable, than the very generous grants we have received to provide services to youth survivors throughout the years.

[easy-tweet tweet=”The people that make up Shared Hope, have been my favorite part of our journey together.” user=”SharedHope”]

What’s the biggest thing SHI provided for you during your time as a partner?

You believed in us. You did that with more than just words of encouragement and affirmation. Shared Hope did this with investing in our program, not only financially, but also with making yourselves available and approachable. You created spaces for us to share ideas, concerns and solutions to complicated issues. You increased our credibility and in turn our ability to raise more support for sustainability. That can have no pricetag.

What’s some advice you would give to people/organizations (like your own) just starting out in this field?

Start off with a supportive and equally as passionate Board of Directors that will look out for the overall health of the organization AND the overall all health of the Executive Director and all of the staff.
Be strategic and set short and long term goals. Celebrate each victory no matter how small. Dream together often and be ready for constant change. You have to accept that there are many paths to achieve the goals you want.
Tap into support groups and have mentors on speed dial. Being a part of the RSWG and creating friendships with other leaders in the movement has been a lifeline that will make the journey easier and more sustainable.
Have a mandatory self-care plan for all staff members. Practice often and set good examples to the survivors you serve. Your needs are just as important as the people you are trying to help.
Survivor voices and leadership is very important. Have the participants in your program participate in organizational decisions as often as possible. When their ideas and voices are heard they are more invested in the organization and you will see so much more success in their lives in multiple areas.

Stay tuned to read the last part of their story on Friday!

Every year Shared Hope works in partnership with domestic and international partners, giving them grants to fund their direct service work with survivors and offer them technical support. This year we are graduating 3 organizations from our grant program and want to share with you their journeys!

June 19, 2017 by Susanna Bean

Catapulted to Success through Partnership

This week we are interviewing Stephanie Holt, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Mission 21! Watch for posts Wednesday and Friday featuring the rest of the Mission 21 story!

A note from Mission 21:

To our grant partners, Shared Hope International, you have invested and entrusted us to manage your gifts well, you have challenged us to always be better, to dream bigger and to do the most good. For that, we are forever grateful. Thank you.

Tell us a little about yourself and why you founded your organization.

In 2010, my husband Matt and I founded Mission 21 as a respond to a lack of services to youth in our state who were sexually exploited. It all started after we attended a human trafficking awareness class in Cedar Rapids, IA. During an 8 hour day of eye opening information and stories we left changed people. Coming home from that class, we wondered what we could possibly do to make any kind of difference. The least we could do was talk to our friends and family about what we had learned, and like many people, we thought that we could give financially to an existing program already doing good work. To our surprise there were no services for kids in our state under 16.

With the average age of entry into the sex trade being 12-13 years old this was unacceptable. We never thought that God’s plan was to use us to fill in that gap. I can’t say that I immediately jumped at the opportunity to say “yes” to God when he first called us to this work. But when I finally did say “yes”, I dove in deep and the fruit of that obedience and willingness is evident in the success of Mission 21 to this day.

Where were you/your organization when the grant began vs. where you are now?

Four years ago, 2013, was a pivotal moment for Mission 21. After three years of establishing ourselves in the city of Rochester, MN we had gained much momentum and a consistent presence within our community. It was this year that our formal partnership with Shared Hope International began. Shared Hope International invested $40,000 the first year of funding with Mission 21 in an idea – that specialized foster care for sexually exploited youth was something that was absolutely needed, not only in the state of Minnesota, but nationwide. Four years and $125,000 later, Mission 21 was catapulted to the forefront of a national change in the way states respond to youth in placement.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Mission 21 was catapulted to success, made possible through partnership with @SharedHope”]

Our pilot program with private and public foster care agencies contributed to a state wide Governor’s workgroup conversation charged with changing the way that social services responds for youth in care. Mission 21’s vision for specialized foster care went from a call to action, and many denying that any changes needed to happen, to a powerful voice at a table of policy and change makers. In 2017, foster care for sexually exploited youth will see a complete statewide change backed by our Governor’s office. All of it was made possible by this partnership.

Check back Wednesday and Friday for the rest of their story!

June 16, 2017 by Jo Lembo

Inspired to Give Back – Ambassador Spotlight

Karen Lambie felt driven to do something to “give back” to society after retiring from teaching. Her online research into children’s rights issues brought her across the sex trafficking of children. Like so many of the people in our audiences, she was shocked to discover its rampancy in the United States and in her own home state of Georgia. She knew she had to help stop this heinous crime, and her continued search led her to Shared Hope International. Joining the Ambassador of Hope Program, Karen found her calling.

She took her Ambassador role very seriously, especially after learning that the foster children she and her husband, Tom, had in their home were from the highest risk demographic. She wasted no time talking to the director of her Department of Family and Children’s Services which led to an introduction to the Adoptive and Foster Parents Association of Georgia (AFPAG) which rippled into speaking opportunities all over the state of Georgia, including three state conferences.

Karen’s husband, Tom, became an Ambassador because he wanted join her in educating the public and to do whatever he could to help prevent children from becoming victims. Sharing with their family and friends about what they are doing continually resulted in more invitations to host booths at a variety of events.

Karen’s main tactic is to make sure people have her business card and that they know there is no speaker fee. Karen shares hope by not only presenting the signs of trafficking, but by assuring people walk away with excellent tools to prevent trafficking.

Karen’s list of presentations is diverse, from university classes to speaking at a family reunion, and she even hosted a resource table at a “Responsible Dog Ownership” event!

Something fun that she likes to include in her presentation? “One activity that can lighten the mood after the heaviness of introducing the topic is to role play how traffickers may approach a child, young person, or even an adult in public by claiming they are a modeling or acting agent. Asking for a volunteer (male or female) from the audience, I ask them to pretend they are a 13-year-old and shopping in a mall.”

“Approaching the individual and gushing about how beautiful or handsome they are usually gets some laughter. I promise them I can get them into magazines and movies. Then I ask them to come with me to the parking lot where my camera equipment is or hand them a business card and tell them to give me a call. Even though their reactions are often very humorous, the very serious point is made.”

Karen keeps her goals simple: To stay tuned in listening for people that might be interested in having a speaker or where she can host a booth. “For as long as I am able, I will raise my voice against the scourge of child sex trafficking.”

[easy-tweet tweet=”“For as long as I am able, I will raise my voice against the scourge of child sex trafficking.” ” user=”SharedHope”]

Your voice counts, Karen, more than you’ll ever know because we can’t count how many kids are safer because you shared the signs of trafficking. Thank you for all you do!

We need more Ambassadors to educate their communities on preventing sex trafficking. Apply today!

June 6, 2017 by Guest

A Living Legacy

The story of one’s man impact on multiple generations

Burnett Family photo in 1957. (Their fifth child arrived in 1961)

Supper wasn’t a hurried affair when Malcolm Burnett was growing up in the small town of Camas, Washington. It was a family time—a time for the adults to talk and the children to listen and keep quiet. Suppertime conversations at the Burnett family table revolved around current affairs and the family’s history, and Malcolm was an avid listener.

Sitting around the table one evening in the 1930s, Malcolm’s paternal grandfather, Dr. Charles Flagg, shared a story that made a lasting impression on his junior-high-aged grandson. After serving in the Philippines as a US Army surgeon during the Spanish American War and the subsequent occupation, Dr. Flagg was sent back home to Fort Vancouver in Vancouver, WA. Owing to the servicemen’s patronage of the houses of prostitution in the area around Fort Vancouver, the job of examining, treating, and keeping medical records for prostituted women fell to the Army medical corps. Dr. Flagg treated many of the prostituted women during his time at Fort Vancouver, and observed troubling trends in their health.

Dr. Charles E.B. Flagg, US Army Surgeon and in charge of the medical facilities of Fort Vancouver

Malcolm, now his nineties, still remembers the shock he felt when Dr. Flagg said that the average life expectancy of the girls after they were prostituted was 7 years because of the diseases they would contract.

“Syphilis and gonorrhea were very common. In those days syphilis was treated with mercury, if my memory serves me right,” Malcolm mused sadly from the couch in his sitting room. “These things weren’t publicized in the papers, but the military knew what was going on.”

Dr. Flagg went on to tell the story of a middle class family whose daughter had disappeared. “Her brother went to a house of prostitution in Vancouver,” Malcolm recalled Dr. Flagg’s story, “I don’t know if he was going in search of his sister, or if he was a patron, but when the madam showed him to a room on the second floor, his sister opened the door! He and his sister tied the bedsheets together, escaped out the window, and made it safely back to their parents’ house.”

Dr. Flagg described prostitution as a “vicious heartless business,” and his stories made an indelible impression on Malcolm, who has held a firm, lifelong belief that “sexual exploitation through prostitution should not be winked at and kept hush-hush, but should be fought like any other crime.”

[easy-tweet tweet=”“Sexual exploitation through prostitution should not be winked at, but fought like any other crime.”” user=”SharedHope”]

“When you combine this history with the fact that I have four daughters, four granddaughters, and three great-granddaughters in my family, you can see why I support the work done by Linda Smith and Shared Hope International to eradicate this vicious, heartless business worldwide!” Malcom added, “Because I grew up with a strong feeling about people who make money on prostitution, we wanted to get behind her work.”

“When I worked for Boeing, I knew men who patronized prostitutes. It’s sickening how our culture accepts it.”

Malcom and “his boss” Zoe, a rescued Bull Terrier who keeps him active.

Malcom determined at a young age to make a difference and to save girls from that life. He stays involved today by sharing the message of awareness with his family, friends, and church community. He continues to support Shared Hope in any way he can. He is particularly grieved by the way our society views prostitution as normal.

A few years ago, Malcom and Linda met over lunch to discuss several bills then being considered by Washington State to strengthen laws to prosecute those who buy and sell children. He leaned across the table and said passionately, “I may be 92, but I’m not dead yet! What do you need me to do?”

Malcolm joined the forces of letter writing activists to convince state lawmakers it was the right thing to do, saying, “If everyone did something, we could get it done!” As a result of those efforts, Washington state is one of 7 states who currently hold an A grade in Shared Hope’s Protected Innocence Challenge.

Malcolm Burnett life is a powerful example of individual responsibility, active citizenship, and compassion. In passing these values on to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren–and in the difference he has made through his contributions in the lives of those served through Linda Smith and Shared Hope’s work–Malcolm has created a living legacy.

Note: Nick Lembo is the original interviewer and author of this piece. It was modified by Jennifer Lindsay for use on the Shared Hope Blog.