Ending Human Trafficking: People are Never for Sale or Purchase

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There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

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and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortez. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

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personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five. It's working

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on Purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortez. Welcome back to

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the Working on Purpose Show. Thanks
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Elise Cortez, jo a new live
from Dallas, which is home base

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I'm glad we're connected, and thanks
for listening. Now onto this week's program

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with us today is Jenna Cooper Heller. She's the director of Programs for United

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Against Human Trafficking. We'll be talking
about their problem of human trafficking in the

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world and what she and her organization
are doing to address it. She joins

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it today from Houston, Texas.
Jenna, Welcome to Working on Purpose.

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Hello, it's so great to be
on the show. I'm so excited.

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Yes, I'm so happy to have
you. And I want to tell our

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listeners how this conversation came to be. I was out speaking for the Texas

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Network of Youth Services conference. I
guess it was August in Austin, and

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you were in my audience. And
when you and I got to speaking,

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and then later on you gave me
your card and I looked at it and

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I thought, oh my gosh,
and I just it hit me like a

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ton of bricks, Jenna, that
human trafficking really, essentially, when we'll

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get to a definition here in just
a second, is exactly something that prevents

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people from living their purpose. And
I thought, we have got to showcase

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you in the work that you're doing
because we've got to stop this. And

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so thank you for being on the
show and sharing what you're up to absolutely,

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and you know, thank you for
being at that conference. I'm just

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really excited that we were able to
be connected and you know, we get

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to talk about human trafficking and really
spread that awareness and talk about the issue.

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Yeah. So let's start with what
we actually mean by human trafficking,

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the atrocious problem of human trafficking and
given an actual definition, because I don't

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know that I necessarily could articulate it
the way that you do on your website,

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but you say on the site human
trafficking is a modern day slavery and

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victims are subject to force, fraud, or coercion for the purposes of forced

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labor and or sexual exploitation. Wow. And so you know, I really

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am very heartened that your organization is
all about stopping this practice. And so

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first just let me let you comment
on just the gravity of the problem.

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Absolutely. You know, I think
that it's really common for individuals and I'm

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definitely guilty of this. Before I
start doing this work. Is to think

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of trafficking as you know that movie
taken where this is happening overseas, that

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someone is being tied to a bed
and forced to engage in a commercial sex

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act and that's not really what we're
seeing. You know, we have US

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citizens, we have for our nationals
who are being trafficked, But it's that

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that force, that fraud and that
coercion that really, you know, creates

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this psychological manipulation that traffickers are so
good at doing. And I think that

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you know, that force is what
we tend to think of, that physical

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manipulation, but you know, trafficking
in the way that people get into this

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can really look like false romantic relationships
and false job offers or debt bondage,

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and then that coercion, that psychological
manipulation. So this is a really huge

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issue that has so many different assets
to it, and it gets so complicated.

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So I'm going to do my very
best to make sure that we can

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really have a conversation that really simplifies, so that everyone can really walk away

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after listening to this having a really
a better understanding of what we're really talking

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about when we talk about human trafficking. Got it, Well, let's next

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do the numbers, if you will. I was shocked when I looked at

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your website and see that you report
on your website just for me the profundity

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of this global problem you report that
twenty four point nine million people are victims

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of forced labor or sexually sexually sexually
use, I guess, and three hundred

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and thirteen thousand victims in Texas,
eight fifty nine reported traffic cases in the

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US. And so I just when
I looked at those numbers, I was

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honestly blown back by that, Jenna. Yeah, and it's those are just

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like a fraction, you know,
this crime is so it's so hidden,

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and these are just estimates because really
finding exactly how many people are being trafficked

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is just a really, really difficult
task. And so when we look at

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the number globally at twenty four point
nine million, you know, this is

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talking about labor trafficking and sex trafficking. This is talking about people who are

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working in restaurants and agriculture and hotels
and domestic work. This is including people

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who are being forced to work in
brothels and cantinas and strip clubs and massage

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parlors. You know, we see
that a lot popping up in Houston now

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and across the country. But really
this also is talking about not just females

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and young girls who are being exploited
for sex. This is such a large

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issue that you know, really affects
so many individuals. And then in Texas

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we had ut Austin back in two
thousand and sixteen that we're really trying to

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understand and quantify how many people here
in Texas alone are actually being, you

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know, exposed to this crime.
And so what they did is they really

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looked at labor trafficking and then they
looked at minor sex trafficking and that's where

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that three hundred and thirteen thousand individuals, that's where that number came from.

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And you know, just like the
global number, they found that there was

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more labor trafficking cases, which is
also another misconception. This is not just

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a sex crime, but labor trafficking
is a far more prevalent form of human

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trafficking. However it is so it's
even more of a hidden crime than sex

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trafficking is and really hard for law
enforcement to investigate. And then they say

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that there's only like less than one
percent of individuals who are in a trafficking

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situation that actually get identified and connected
to services. Oh my gosh, that's

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just that just heavies my heart.
Now, I don't have no idea if

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this is true. That you'd be
a good person to ask this question.

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But I was having the colleague on
and I think it was Tuesday, and

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mentioned something about you coming on the
show, and he said that Houston is

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the large number one largest city in
the United States. Deals so then the

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second largest city in terms of highest
rates of trafficking. Is that true?

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So when we look at Texas,
that is true, that's definitely because Houston

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is the largest city here. But
we Texas is in the top five of

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the most you know, the highest
number of trafficking cases, along with California,

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New York, Ohio, and Florida. And I hate, I hate

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to rank things because it makes it
seem it's only happening in those places.

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But the reality is is that this
is happening in every single state in the

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country, and even if you don't
hear about it, it's it's happening.

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Unfortunately, Houston is known as an
intense jurisdiction and this hub for traffic and

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that's are a few different reasons.
A. We're one of the largest cities

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in the country, so of course, as you have an influx of individuals

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living in a place, the chances
of this crime happening just increase. We

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also have an extremely diverse population.
I think we've surpassed New York and we

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are the most diverse community. So
it's really easy for people to be brought

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from other cities and other countries and
really blend in. We also have a

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lot of international airports and seaports,
and then we have the I ten Quarter

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that cuts across the entire country and
it cuts through Houston, making transportation really

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easy for traffickers to bounce their victims
around. Wow, that just really gives

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me a whole new level of access
to what this problem is. And next,

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then what I want to understand is
who's involved in and the problem.

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So to, I want to better
understand who or what kind of a person

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or a party is doing the trafficking. I'm sure there are various kinds of

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parties, but who warning. Yeah, this is a really good question because

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there is not one person that we
can pinpoint and say yes, they are

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a trafficker, because this looks so
different. We have familial trafficking where traffickers

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are apparent. You know, we
had a case where there is a mother

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who is trafficking her five year old
daughter to pay off a two hundred dollars

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drug debt. Then we had that
it was a student trafficking her fellow classmate

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who had learning disabilities. And the
reason why this young want like the same

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girl, she knew how to do
this is because she was dating an older

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man who was trying to do this
to her, so she flipped the script.

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We also see, you know,
gangs becoming more involved in trafficking because

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they realize that when you traffick a
person, you don't ever lose your product,

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as opposed to say drug trafficking,
where that's a one time exchange,

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so that these individual tools, they're
just selling their product repeatedly and the profit.

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You know, it's estimated that human
trafficking brings in one hundred and fifty

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billion dollars a year. Wow,
that's huge, and so it's really hard

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to kind of pinpoint who does this, but we do know that there are

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populations that are extremely vulnerable to traffick, like to become trafficked, so,

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you know, those who have past
trauma, those who are immigranting refugees,

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they might not necessarily know their rights
when they're when they come to the States.

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There's a lot of individuals who come
here with different visas but still get

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exploited, youth who have runaway or
who are homeless, those who have mental

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health concerns, and then system involvement, both youth and adults are heavily targeted.

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And also those who are seeking love
and you know, affection. So

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there's, you know, such a
lot a large spectrum of who can be

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the traffickers. But they're really great
at finding vulnerabilities and people finding an easy

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way to control and manipulate the situation. Wow, you know, I'm going

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to tell you, for just speaking
on a personal level, I got a

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whole new access because I'm I'm DOORSD
for three and a half years, and

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of course I date online dating.
I'm telling you there are definitely predators out

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there, and now I certainly and
I knew I've recognized a few of them

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along the way and didn't fall prey
to them. But but it's when you

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talk about you know, people finding
looking for love in the past, trauma

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and the vulnerability piece, it's and
I will tell you, I will say,

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Jennis, some of these people they
are I look at that their approach

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and there it's like written from a
book, It's taken from a playbook.

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And I'm like Wow, this is
this is this is a fully thought out

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thing. Absolutely. I think,
in my opinion, the internet is one

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of those terrifying places out there.
You know, especially just any like young

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people, anyone who you use as
these different platforms can really fall victim to

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traffickers because they know they know what
they're doing. We have a lot of

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cases where we see traffickers using these
really popular social media apps like Snapchat and

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Facebook and Instagram, and then all
the other ones that just keep on popping

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up like kick and even like Tinder
and things like Yellow are just really terrifying

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places. Is because you have individuals
who are time to connect, you know,

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both youth and adults who are allies
and using these platforms. And you

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know, when you use a platform, you know there's that that level of

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autonomy and that level of vulnerability,
and it's so easy for traffickers to just

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pull out information that you don't think
is necessarily a bad thing to share.

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But they are so great at manipulating
this situation and using it to their advantage.

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Yeah, Like a perfect example is
we had this young this young girl

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who just share that she was,
you know, fighting with her parents again

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like not such like you know,
vulnerable information to share, but the trafficker

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was able to take that and spind
that and really then building her up and

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saying the things that she wanted to
hear, like oh, you're such a

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grown up, your parents are treating
you like a child, and really use

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that as the way to get that
in and to build that relationship. It

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is. This is so helpful,
I think for our listeners to understand just

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you know, the depth of the
problem and how insidious it is. You've

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said a little bit about how people
find thectims, especially online in the vulnerability

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piece. I don't know if you
want to say more about that, but

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I'd also like to know how long, if you could say, victims typically

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end up in this kind of slavery. Yeah, really great question. So,

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yeah, the way that that victims
are found, you know, traffickers

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prey on the vulnerability, so they
go into schools, they go into homeless

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shelters, they'll wait outside the jails. You know, again, really understanding

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how to utilize and manipulate people's vulnerabilities
to their advantage. And then in terms

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of how long people are trafficked for
or in this cycle, it really varies.

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So we see that with labor trafficking, there's less of a cycle than

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say sex trafficking, where sex trafficking
is really similar to the domestic violence.

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That that that cycle of that power
and control wheel of you know, the

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trafficker will you abuse the victim in
various ways, but then shower them with

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love and attention and affection, and
then once the the you know, the

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victim wants to get out, then
the trafficker will then repeat that cycle.

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And that's why we see a lot
of times, even when law enforcement helps

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remove someone from a trafficking situation,
we see that victims actually run back to

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their traffickers and it takes a few
times through this cycle for that then the

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victim to really find the strength and
really understand the gravity of the situation and

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then you know, want to seek
help and get help. And that's you

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know where you know, we come
in, or coalition members come in so

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that we can help connect them to
whatever stage that they might be at and

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really help them through this really you
know, difficult situation. Well, Jenna,

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such important work you and your team
are doing there. Let's grab our

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first break. I'm your host,
Elise Cortez. We're on the air with

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Jenna Cooper Heller, director of Programs
for United Against Human Trafficking, joined us

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today from Houston, Texas. We've
been talking about the depth and breadth of

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the problem of human trafficking. After
the break, we're going to get into

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organizations solution and how their organization came
to be. Stay with us, we'll

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be right back. Alice Cortez is
a speaker and engagement and development catalyst.

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She designs and delivers professional development,
leadership and engagement workshops and can bring her

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00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:56.920
expertise to your organization. She will
help ignite meaningful development within your workforce that

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00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:02.920
will increase employee engagement, formance and
retention. To learn more or to invite

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00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:07.240
Elise to speak to your organization,
please visit her at www dot Elise Cortez

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dot com. She would welcome the
opportunity to help get your employees working on

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purpose. This is working on Purpose
with Elise Cortez. To reach our program

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00:18:23.640 --> 00:18:30.839
today, send an email to Elise
ali Se at Elise Cortez dot com.

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Now back to working on Purpose.
Thanks for staying with us, and welcome

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back to working on Purpose. If
you're just joining this, my guess is

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Jenna Cooper Heller, Director of programs
for United Against Human Trafficking, which exists

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to ensure no human life is for
sale by endo human trafficking through awareness,

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education and outreach. I'm your host, Elise Cortez. So, Jennifer,

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this next part of the conversation,
I did want to talk about your organization

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and how it came to be.
I did just mention that the mission of

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the organization, and I love that
your vision is for all people to experience

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freedom and live beyond bondage to others
in a world that is intolerant of buyers

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and sellers of human beings. Talk
about an organization working on purpose on a

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really big problem. Jenna, it's
just so great to future on the show.

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Yeah, it's really great to be
here because you know, we really

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we really are so driven by our
mission and we really are driven even by

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our name. You know, this
issue is so large, so we really

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wanted to make sure that we can
fill the gaps, We can find the

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gaps and then fill the gaps and
really unite the community. Well, it's

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it's a it's phenomenal. You know. For me, I get really excited

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when I meet people who are really
doing something with their one precious life to

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really make a difference, and they're
giving it their all. I mean that

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to me is so much of what
I want to showcase and I stand for.

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And so again when I Metro,
it's like, oh yeah, you

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can run from a Jenna, but
you cannot hide. I will find you.

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Let's talk. So let's talk a
little bit about how this organization came

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to be. I mean, it's
just amazing. I think you all began

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back in two thousand and seven if
I read it right on your website,

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but share with us how it started
and some of the key events that got

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you to where you are today.
Absolutely. Yeah. So it actually started

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in two thousand and five in a
garage. Yeah, it was two fully

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powerful women who heard about human trafficking
and wanted to do something about it.

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You know when they started. Unfortunately, human trafficking has only been a federal

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crime since two thousand. I know
that it is very shocking and completely ridiculous.

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But so there was a lot of
work being done, and so when

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they heard about it, they wanted
to do something about it. So then

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it was actually in two thousand and
seven that we became a five oh one

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c three nonprofit organization and then also
in the same year, we launched our

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very first media campaign, so we
had billboards and posts across the entire city

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of Houston, really just trying to
start that conversation, really just trying to

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raise the awareness in the community because
there was such a lack of information about

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human trafficking out there. And so
over the years we've really focused primarily on

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that education and awareness side, so
training frontline professionals, engaging the community.

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And then it wasn't until twenty sixteen
that we really started to evolve and start

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including ways in which that we as
an organization can proactively go out in the

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community and try to identify trafficked persons
and connect them to services. Oh my

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gosh, see what happens when so
other times people ask me, you know,

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how did you discover your purpose?
And I want to really find mine

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and I one of the things that
we say in this in this space,

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the purpose space, is that one
way to discover your purpose is to look

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for what big, nasty problem in
the world do you stand for solving?

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And I really really appreciate that these
two women saw that and were willing to

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do something about it. Because the
organization that you've created is phenomenal. So

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then I want to ask why did
you join the organization and why is the

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work important to you? Really great
questions. So I got into this anti

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trafficking you know, movement because of
my first year's field placement in grad school

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I had. I went in with
the intention of working with refugee and immigrants

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and resettlement. And it wasn't until
that placement that I actually got to provide

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direct services to trafficked persons. And
when I was just learning about this,

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and this is like eight years ago, I just could not understand why we

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were why this wasn't talked about more. You know, I would I would

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come home from school and talk to
my family and my friends, and I

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would even talk to my fellow classmates, and you know, no one really

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understood what I was talking about.
Everyone, you know, had this very

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stereotypical image of what trafficking is.
And so I kind of became obsessed with

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this issue and wanting to learn more. And so every school assignment, every

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internship, every volunteer opportunity was really
so that I can learn more about this,

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and you know, it just became
my life work. It just made

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sense. I get excited to wake
up every morning and come to work because

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I know that the work that this
organization is doing, the work that's being

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done in the Houston community, is
so invaluable, and the fact that I

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get to be a part of it, you know, I'm really grateful.

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So I continue this work and I
continue working for United Against Human Trafficking because

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we're we're able to be really creative
and innovative with how we're doing this work,

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and we get to be that that
uniting force in the Houston community,

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bringing different entities together to really address
this, you know, huge issue.

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So Jenna, now I'm really really
getting present. So when I when you

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and I met in this session that
I gave there in the conference, I

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didn't even know what you did,
but you had a light about you.

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Your eyes sparkled, And now I
understand, of course it's because you are

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you're working from purpose, and I'm
telling you there's something about that is that

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is so irresistible in people. And
so I was already attracted to your energy

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and you know, your shine,
and now I that's I'm sure that's what

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it was behind all that. So
I just wanted you to I wanted you

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to hear that, and I wanted
to acknowledge that that beautiful light that's coming

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from you, that comes from working
on purpose. Well, thank you so

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much for saying this. You can't
see me, but I'm smiling. I

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can hear it. No, I
can hear it. It's right there,

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And thank you. And you know, when I when I talk to people

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or when people ask what I do, I feel like I'm met Debbie Downer

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in the room when I start to
tell them about the organization and they just

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say like, well, how do
you do this work? And I just

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say like, I can't imagine doing
anything else. You know, I've been

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really grateful to take some really big
risks in my life and it's led me

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to this. And I'm a true
believer that the universe has this power to

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help guide you and make sure that
you're living your full purpose if you're willing

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to take those chances and really willing
to push and get outside your comfort zone

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and just follow your gut. I
completely agree, Jennet. That's been my

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path and that's what I'm doing so
much within organizations and with people individuals to

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help them do that same thing for
themselves. And so I come or completely

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aligned. Now, one more thing, for you that I really want to

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get out here for our listeners,
because you know, you're already affecting change

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within your organization, but I also
note that you're doing work advocating for policy

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change on a local, national,
and even international levels. Can you just

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say a little bit about that.
Yeah. So, when I was still

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trying to learn more about human trafficking
and what that is, I had some

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really great opportunities presented themselves. And
so one was that I got to provide

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a recommendation and testify at the Sunset
Hearing and the Sunset Review for the Department

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of Family and Protective Services. So
every federal department and entity actually has to

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go through a review to make sure
that they are fulfilling their goals and their

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objectives that they set in that department. And so what you know I was

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kind of like exploring and researching at
the time is how many fostered youth are

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actually running away from a foster care
placement or a group home and actually ending

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up in a trafficking situation. So
while the DFPS was going through their review,

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I was able to go to Austin
and testify and bring that human trafficking

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perspective and I was really grateful and
honored that I got to do that because

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out of a hundred people in the
room, myself and my colleague were the

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only two, the only two individuals
that were actually bringing up the issue of

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human trafficking. And then another thing
that I was able to do on more

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like international level was for two years
I was a delegate to the United Nations

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during the Commission on the Status of
Women, so hearing about different issues that

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women face across the world, human
trafficking being one of them, and I

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was able to then also write recommendations
as to how we can better address this.

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Oh that's so awesome genera, Oh
my gosh, it just gives me

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goosebumps. So the next thing I
want to get to here is, and

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I was so impressed when looked at
your website and did a little more research

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on you, that you have fifty
five participating organizations just in the Houston area,

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Loane. And what I appreciate about
that is I've got a colleague who

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I'm in actually here on the radio
show, Paul Skinner, who talks about

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and using collaborative advantage as a strategy
for success, well, certainly for you

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to combat the problem that you're dealing
with. You you're going to need a

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lot of people. They're in army
if you will sow you how do you

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find these different participating organizations? How
do you coordinate the work with them?

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Yeah, so actually we started off
as a coalition, So we've been leading

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this coalition for several years at this
point. So it's it's been this this

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really beautiful collaboration of different organizations who
are not only doing human trafficking specific work,

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but who are who is also doing
work that may intersect with human trafficking.

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So we have nonprofits, we have
healthcare professionals, we have faith based

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and we've actually had student groups represented
before really bringing their expertise to the table

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and finding ways how we can work
together based on those level of expertise.

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So we are really purposeful. We
have our fantastic coalition manager Nate, who

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really spearheads connecting with organizations, recruiting
new organizations so that we can be as

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well rounded and holistic as we possibly
can. So we approach organizations or even

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organizations get connected to us because they've
heard of the work that we're doing.

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So we really try to ensure that
we are looking at this issue from multiple

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perspectives. So we have subcommittees that
look at research and advocacy. We have

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a group dedicated to direct services.
We have another committee focused on education Jim,

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and then the newest group that we
have is actually gathering survivors so that

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they can be on the forefront and
leading the conversation to ensure that all the

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work that the coalition is doing is
survivor informed. It's so impressive, it's

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really impressive what you're up to here
and want to I want to give you

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a chance to maybe share about one
of those pursuing organizations. But let's grab

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our last break if we can.
I'm Elis Cortez, your host. We've

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been on the year with Jenna Cooper
Heller, director of Programs for United Against

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Human Trafficking. Junis today from Houston, Texas. After the break, we're

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going to hear more about their specific
programs and how they work. Stay with

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us, we'll be right back.
Elis Cortez is a speaker and in eagement

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00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:06.400
and development catalyst. She designs and
delivers professional development, leadership and engagement workshops

382
00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:11.200
and can bring her expertise to your
organization. She will help ignite meaningful development

383
00:31:11.240 --> 00:31:15.359
within your workforce that will increase employee
engagement, performance and retention. To learn

384
00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:19.079
more or to invite e Lease to
speak to your organization, please visit her

385
00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:25.559
at www dot Elise Cortez dot com. She would welcome the opportunity to help

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00:31:25.599 --> 00:31:37.359
get your employees working on purpose.
This is working on Purpose with Elise Cortez.

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00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:41.960
To reach our program today, send
an email to Elise ali Se at

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00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:49.440
Elise Cortez dot com. Now back
to working on Purpose. Thanks for stating

389
00:31:49.480 --> 00:31:52.319
with us, and welcome back to
working on purpose. If you're just tuning

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in, my guest is Jenna Cooper
Heller, director of Programs for United Against

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Human Trafficking, which exists to ensure
no human life for sale by ending human

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trafficking through awareness, education and outreach. I'm your host, Alice Cortez.

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So, Jenna, just before the
last break, we were talking about some

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of your participating organizations, your partners. Is there maybe one or two that

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you want to showcase help us understand
what they do and how you partner together.

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Absolutely so. One of the newest
coalition members is an organization called Elevate

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sixty one, and when they focus
on is serving men who've been trafficked and

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their plan is to provide a shelter
right now. They help them with rent

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and connecting them to a safe place
to stay. So that has been a

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huge gap in the Houston community that
this coalition member has now been able to

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fill. So if we or if
any of the coalition members, if they

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identify a mail they are able to
directly connect them to elevate sixty one.

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Another would be Hawk. So the
Houston Area Women's Center is another organization who's

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been a part of the coalition for
a few years, and they have historically

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00:33:02.799 --> 00:33:08.279
really focused on that domestic violence,
but understanding the connection between human trafficking and

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00:33:08.359 --> 00:33:14.359
domestic violence, they've been able to
bring that expertise of really filling that gap

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00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:19.839
and filling that understanding of how the
two intersect. Johnny, I so appreciate

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00:33:19.880 --> 00:33:22.000
how crisp you are giving us so
much information, really teaching us a lot

409
00:33:22.039 --> 00:33:24.799
about this space that I know I
didn't know anything about. And when I'm

410
00:33:24.839 --> 00:33:28.799
really getting present too, is how
much we really do need to be educated

411
00:33:28.839 --> 00:33:31.359
about it. And I know one
of your programs that to focus on our

412
00:33:31.480 --> 00:33:36.720
educational programs in nature. Can you
say a little bit about them and what

413
00:33:37.240 --> 00:33:40.559
they surface and who they serve absolutely, So we kind of do two things

414
00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:46.680
in education. So one we target
frontline professionals because we know that traffic persons

415
00:33:46.880 --> 00:33:52.599
very rarely self identify for like a
plethora of reasons. So we want to

416
00:33:52.599 --> 00:33:55.440
be able to train those who may
be on the front line and those who

417
00:33:55.480 --> 00:34:00.400
may intersect with the trafficked person,
and we want to provide them the gills

418
00:34:00.480 --> 00:34:04.519
and the knowledge that they need to
effectively do that. So we work with

419
00:34:04.599 --> 00:34:10.440
law enforcement, with educators, healthcare
providers, hospitality staff, social service entities,

420
00:34:10.760 --> 00:34:14.519
literally anyone who will listen to us. We want to talk to them,

421
00:34:15.320 --> 00:34:17.960
I think as many people as possible, and so we talk about,

422
00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:22.639
you know, what are some red
flags to look for, what are some

423
00:34:22.679 --> 00:34:25.960
of the questions that you can ask, really breaking down the misconceptions of what

424
00:34:27.079 --> 00:34:30.320
human trafficking really is, and then
making sure that they know how what steps

425
00:34:30.360 --> 00:34:36.639
they need to take to effectively respond
to a trafficking situation. Who to connect

426
00:34:36.679 --> 00:34:38.920
them to, what are the resources
in the community. And then on the

427
00:34:38.920 --> 00:34:45.440
flip side of that, we really
wanted to connect with community members because this

428
00:34:45.519 --> 00:34:50.239
is such a large issue and when
you hear about it, it gets a

429
00:34:50.239 --> 00:34:54.039
little overwhelming. So you know,
even for the listeners who are listening in,

430
00:34:54.159 --> 00:34:57.679
you know, there are things that
you can do, you know,

431
00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:02.079
just being aware no who is in
your neighborhood. We had a case where

432
00:35:02.320 --> 00:35:07.400
there was a woman being trafficked within
a home in a gated community, a

433
00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:12.639
really nice gated community, and she
was being trafficked, she was being forced

434
00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:16.440
to work over twenty hours a day
taking care of the two young children,

435
00:35:16.719 --> 00:35:22.880
not being paid. And it was
you know, concerned neighbors who responded and

436
00:35:22.960 --> 00:35:27.679
did something. And then on the
labor topicking side, you know, I

437
00:35:27.719 --> 00:35:34.239
think we all have an obligation to
be more conscious of where we buy products.

438
00:35:34.599 --> 00:35:38.400
So that's kind of the intention behind
our community engagement and our community education.

439
00:35:38.559 --> 00:35:44.159
We really want to make sure that
every community member, every person in

440
00:35:44.199 --> 00:35:50.239
our community has the tools, no
matter what role or profession they might be

441
00:35:50.320 --> 00:35:54.039
involved in, that they know what
this is and they know how to respond,

442
00:35:54.079 --> 00:36:00.960
they know what their part is in
addressing this issue. Phenomenal, phenomenal

443
00:36:01.000 --> 00:36:05.719
work. And now I want to
take it to an area near and dear

444
00:36:05.840 --> 00:36:07.800
to my heart, and that's the
youth prevention work that you do. I

445
00:36:07.840 --> 00:36:12.760
do have a daughter of my own, but I really literally gasped when I

446
00:36:12.800 --> 00:36:16.239
read on your website that fifty five
percent of domestic minor victims of sex traffing

447
00:36:16.320 --> 00:36:21.719
age seven to eleven are recruited through
social media apps and websites. To your

448
00:36:21.719 --> 00:36:25.199
point earlier, the internet is a
very very frightening place. So how does

449
00:36:25.320 --> 00:36:30.119
United Against Human Trafficking educating and intervening
to help youth? Then? Yeah,

450
00:36:30.159 --> 00:36:34.360
so just talking to them, right, so they don't know what they don't

451
00:36:34.440 --> 00:36:37.320
know, and so we're able to
just come in there with you know,

452
00:36:37.519 --> 00:36:42.360
non judgmental. We're not telling them
what they should or shouldn't do, but

453
00:36:42.519 --> 00:36:46.400
more just from that empowerment approach of
hey, this is what's going on out

454
00:36:46.440 --> 00:36:50.519
there, We want you to be
safe. Here are some tools that you

455
00:36:50.559 --> 00:36:53.840
can use to make sure that you
know as you continue to use these social

456
00:36:53.840 --> 00:36:59.320
media platforms, because we know that
they're not going to stop doing that and

457
00:36:59.480 --> 00:37:02.599
using that, but what are some
things that we can help them to ensure

458
00:37:02.639 --> 00:37:07.760
their safety. So it is the
privacy on how do you not share too

459
00:37:07.840 --> 00:37:12.599
much information with individuals that you don't
know, and then just talking about how

460
00:37:12.639 --> 00:37:16.199
to stay safe in just social interactions
that might not be on social media,

461
00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:22.800
so that we can make sure that
youth are not only able to protect themselves

462
00:37:22.840 --> 00:37:28.679
but also help protect their peers.
And so we offer three different programs.

463
00:37:28.760 --> 00:37:35.440
We have our awareness workshops, We
have our prevention program that we adopt from

464
00:37:35.559 --> 00:37:39.679
love On forty six, which is
another coalition member in an international organization.

465
00:37:39.800 --> 00:37:47.760
They put together this really beautiful,
holistic, comprehensive five module prevention programs.

466
00:37:47.840 --> 00:37:52.760
So we're trained facilitators, so we're
able to provide that. And then the

467
00:37:52.800 --> 00:37:58.639
most recent initiative that we started is
the Resiliency Project. What we're seeing is

468
00:37:58.679 --> 00:38:04.960
that there are so many empowered and
amazing young people that once they learned about

469
00:38:05.039 --> 00:38:08.800
human trafficking, they wanted to do
something. They Okay, so what's next?

470
00:38:08.960 --> 00:38:14.719
What can we do? And so
we created this Resiliency Project to empower

471
00:38:14.800 --> 00:38:21.199
the next generation of individuals who want
to be advocates in their community. So

472
00:38:21.239 --> 00:38:25.320
we teach them how to do that. We teach them how to organize educational

473
00:38:25.320 --> 00:38:30.679
events for parents and for educators and
for their peers. We teach them how

474
00:38:30.719 --> 00:38:37.760
to do awareness activities such as the
Redsand Project, and then just really help

475
00:38:37.840 --> 00:38:44.639
support their creativity in bringing awareness to
their community. That is brilliant and beautiful

476
00:38:44.760 --> 00:38:47.519
Jenna. And one thing that's interesting
is I've had other guests on the show

477
00:38:47.519 --> 00:38:53.400
that talk about the importance of exposing
youth to community service, of sorce,

478
00:38:53.440 --> 00:38:58.079
helping others beyond themselves, and how
important that is to develop their own sense

479
00:38:58.079 --> 00:39:01.280
of self esteem, a sense of
peru that they generally do better in life,

480
00:39:01.320 --> 00:39:05.559
they stay away from crime. They
you know, they just do better

481
00:39:05.639 --> 00:39:08.039
when they're exposed to like that early
on in life. I love what that

482
00:39:08.039 --> 00:39:12.440
you're giving that channel as well for
these youth to be part of a solution.

483
00:39:13.159 --> 00:39:16.320
Yeah. Absolutely, And it's has
been so powerful to watch these young

484
00:39:16.400 --> 00:39:22.440
people really just take to such a
large issue, such a messy issue,

485
00:39:22.519 --> 00:39:29.119
such a gruesome issue, and really
make it their own and really do what

486
00:39:29.159 --> 00:39:34.320
they can to elevate their voices in
their community and connect with peers, because

487
00:39:34.320 --> 00:39:37.920
peers are going to listen more to
peers, So why not just provide those

488
00:39:37.960 --> 00:39:45.000
tools to those young people to to
let them do that and to give them

489
00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:51.679
that opportunity to really shine. One
of the other things that I was really

490
00:39:51.760 --> 00:39:55.039
excited to hear about that you're that
you're doing in your Supportive Services ARM is

491
00:39:55.159 --> 00:40:00.239
you have a trauma informed program called
Real Talk, which I understand prom sides

492
00:40:00.280 --> 00:40:05.639
and outloot for at risk individuals and
survivors or process or exploitation, so so

493
00:40:05.639 --> 00:40:07.400
so important for people to have a
way to be able to make sense of

494
00:40:07.519 --> 00:40:10.599
and move on and heal from what
they've been through. Can you tell us

495
00:40:10.599 --> 00:40:16.039
a little bit about those services.
Yeah, So we created this after you

496
00:40:16.079 --> 00:40:22.280
know, just doing some interviews with
survivors and then with facilities who are serving

497
00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:28.360
survivors and really trying to understand the
gaps. You know, there's a lot

498
00:40:28.440 --> 00:40:35.039
of organizations who are doing amazing work
in that emergency response and emergency rescue,

499
00:40:35.599 --> 00:40:40.880
but we wanted to be able to
create a program that allows us to provide

500
00:40:40.920 --> 00:40:45.960
more of all that longer term,
more of that empowerment, that resiliency help

501
00:40:46.039 --> 00:40:51.920
them really kind of move, you
know, forward, And so we created

502
00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:58.519
Real Talk. It's a ten module
program where we where we talk about really

503
00:40:58.880 --> 00:41:06.639
real topics that can increase someone's vulnerability. Because we know that individuals who've experienced

504
00:41:06.679 --> 00:41:10.119
some form of trauma have an increased
risk of being trafficked. And then we

505
00:41:10.159 --> 00:41:15.880
know that individuals who have been trafficked
are at great risk of revictimization. So

506
00:41:15.920 --> 00:41:21.679
we wanted to create a program that
is basically an outlet for individuals to kind

507
00:41:21.679 --> 00:41:25.280
of process what they've gone through in
a really structured way. So we wanted

508
00:41:25.320 --> 00:41:34.679
to introduce that psycho educational component,
so talking about trauma, giving them the

509
00:41:34.679 --> 00:41:39.719
the understanding that it's not them.
You know, they might have anger management

510
00:41:39.760 --> 00:41:45.079
now, or anxiety or you know, all the different things that come with

511
00:41:45.159 --> 00:41:47.880
trauma, but it's not that they're
a bad person. It's because of what

512
00:41:49.000 --> 00:41:54.519
happened to them. So we've tried
to shift that ownership that that victim blaming

513
00:41:54.599 --> 00:42:00.039
away from that person and make them
understand that it's because of what they've gone

514
00:42:00.119 --> 00:42:05.599
through that and the trauma that now
their brain is rewired. So let's talk

515
00:42:05.599 --> 00:42:08.880
about that. Let's give them the
tools that they need to really restructure the

516
00:42:08.960 --> 00:42:14.480
way that their brain is now operating
because for so long they were in the

517
00:42:14.599 --> 00:42:20.599
survival state. So we want to
introduce things like the topic of trauma and

518
00:42:20.719 --> 00:42:24.679
healthy relationships and safety planning. But
then we also want to share with them

519
00:42:24.800 --> 00:42:30.719
some useful coping strategies, so we
introduce things like art therapy and music therapy.

520
00:42:30.119 --> 00:42:35.440
And what's been the most powerful one
to see is actually the power of

521
00:42:35.559 --> 00:42:40.599
breath, so we introduce some yogic
breathing so that they have now the power

522
00:42:40.639 --> 00:42:45.159
to control their body. They have
the power now to control the way they

523
00:42:45.239 --> 00:42:51.679
respond to different situations. So it's
really been an amazing program. We've been

524
00:42:51.719 --> 00:42:57.639
fortunate enough to take it into the
jail system, the juvenile justice system.

525
00:42:58.159 --> 00:43:02.639
We work with youth who've been in
fospil care or facilities who actually directly serve

526
00:43:02.760 --> 00:43:08.480
survivors of trafficking. So this program
has really been able to be adopted across

527
00:43:08.559 --> 00:43:14.559
different populations, at different ages and
different settings. And we actually are now

528
00:43:14.599 --> 00:43:19.599
starting to really focus on having mail
only groups, and those have been extremely

529
00:43:19.639 --> 00:43:25.480
powerful just to get mails comfortable with
talking about some of these really hard topics

530
00:43:25.519 --> 00:43:31.199
that they've been so they've been taught, and it's so ingrained in our society

531
00:43:31.239 --> 00:43:35.360
for men to not talk about these
things and not talk about their feelings.

532
00:43:35.719 --> 00:43:37.679
But we know that men can be
victims too, so we want to be

533
00:43:37.719 --> 00:43:43.920
able to create that outlet for them. I continue as I sit here and

534
00:43:43.920 --> 00:43:46.559
listen to you in this conversation to
be amazed at just the sheer depth and

535
00:43:46.639 --> 00:43:51.039
breadth of while you're up to in
this organization. It's so impressive and for

536
00:43:51.079 --> 00:43:53.880
you giving us really great access to
what it is that you're doing so that

537
00:43:53.920 --> 00:43:58.400
we can understand and be involved.
And so to that, and the last

538
00:43:58.440 --> 00:44:00.639
thing that I wanted to talk about
that I know is part of what you

539
00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:05.199
do there is your outreach. What
does that look like and what form does

540
00:44:05.199 --> 00:44:09.000
that take? Astuely, So for
our outreach, we've wanted to make sure

541
00:44:09.119 --> 00:44:17.159
that we are pushing outside of these
boundaries of human trafficking and connect with different

542
00:44:19.000 --> 00:44:23.559
organizations and different populations that we know
intersect with human trafficking. So a lot

543
00:44:23.599 --> 00:44:30.119
of our outreach has been to individuals
who've experience homelessness, those are part of

544
00:44:30.159 --> 00:44:36.239
the immigrant and refugee community, those
with mental health concerns as well as substance

545
00:44:36.280 --> 00:44:39.519
dependency, and we connect with them, we talk to them. We just

546
00:44:40.079 --> 00:44:45.199
go out. We go out in
the streets, We go into facilities who

547
00:44:45.280 --> 00:44:50.960
serve these various populations, and we
just want to share information about human trafficking.

548
00:44:51.920 --> 00:44:54.559
We do rapid assessments to see if
people are being trafficked, and then

549
00:44:54.840 --> 00:45:00.519
the most important thing is is we
share what services are there in the community,

550
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:02.679
and so if we do get a
disclosure, we are able to plug

551
00:45:02.719 --> 00:45:08.599
that person in right to direct services
or whatever you know needs they may need

552
00:45:08.760 --> 00:45:15.800
meant or we're able to just talk
about human trafficking so that they can help

553
00:45:15.239 --> 00:45:21.719
their peers, they can help individuals
who they know might be in a situation

554
00:45:21.719 --> 00:45:25.840
of trafficking. Brilliant into that.
And I want to make sure that anybody

555
00:45:25.880 --> 00:45:30.519
who's listening to this knows exactly how
to find your organization. Where would you

556
00:45:30.559 --> 00:45:35.800
send them to go to go looking? Yes, so our website it's been

557
00:45:35.840 --> 00:45:38.920
recently relaunched and updated, so it
has all this great information on there,

558
00:45:39.239 --> 00:45:46.360
and you can find us at you
a ht dot org or you can give

559
00:45:46.440 --> 00:45:52.639
us a call at seven one three
eight seven four zero two nine zero.

560
00:45:52.119 --> 00:45:57.519
We love to connect, we love
to share information about human trafficking, and

561
00:45:57.559 --> 00:46:01.639
most importantly, we love to empower. So if you feel connected to this

562
00:46:01.719 --> 00:46:07.239
information and this work, we would
be happy to plug you in and find

563
00:46:07.320 --> 00:46:13.239
resources for you to do that.
Beautiful Jenna, So as as most mostors

564
00:46:13.280 --> 00:46:15.320
who've been listening for a while,
No, I do like to give my

565
00:46:15.360 --> 00:46:17.679
guests something of the last word,
if you will, so you know,

566
00:46:17.840 --> 00:46:22.599
this show is listening from people across
the globe, and it's really designed to

567
00:46:22.599 --> 00:46:27.119
help them more meaningfully and productively connect
with their work in their life. What

568
00:46:27.199 --> 00:46:30.480
would you like to leave them with. Yeah, so one thing I really

569
00:46:30.519 --> 00:46:32.840
live by is, you know,
do what you love and love what you

570
00:46:32.920 --> 00:46:37.440
do. If you're doing something and
it doesn't feel right, it's probably because

571
00:46:37.440 --> 00:46:43.039
you're not on your intended path.
So definitely, you know, take chances,

572
00:46:43.320 --> 00:46:47.239
grow your network, investigate some of
the things that you're curious about,

573
00:46:47.599 --> 00:46:52.320
and you know, really be okay
with going outside your comfort zone. And

574
00:46:52.360 --> 00:46:55.480
then most importantly, trust your gut. You know, if it doesn't feel

575
00:46:55.559 --> 00:46:59.960
right, it's probably not for you. But you know, your gut is

576
00:47:00.159 --> 00:47:02.960
really powerful, and once you're on
your right path, you know, I

577
00:47:02.960 --> 00:47:08.800
think the universe has a really unique
and powerful way of making sure that they

578
00:47:08.880 --> 00:47:15.199
open up really great opportunities for you. So yeah, don't be afraid,

579
00:47:15.360 --> 00:47:19.159
be brave. Beautiful way to finish, Jenna, And again, thank you

580
00:47:19.159 --> 00:47:21.960
for coming on to Working on Purpose. I think you were a little bit

581
00:47:22.039 --> 00:47:24.000
slightly taken aback when I reached out
to you saying, hey, why don't

582
00:47:24.039 --> 00:47:28.199
you come on the radio, but
you said yes, and you just gave

583
00:47:28.280 --> 00:47:32.559
us a beautiful insight into this world
that we need to eradicate which is human

584
00:47:32.599 --> 00:47:36.360
trafficking. And I thank you so
much for sharing your heart and soul with

585
00:47:36.440 --> 00:47:38.400
us. Yeah, and thank you
so much for having me. It's been

586
00:47:38.440 --> 00:47:43.280
really amazing to just be connected with
you and to be able to share some

587
00:47:43.360 --> 00:47:47.360
of the work that we're doing in
Houston, but also hopefully encourage and inspire

588
00:47:47.679 --> 00:47:55.440
your listeners to really find their purpose. Absolutely, absolutely so, listeners,

589
00:47:55.480 --> 00:48:00.079
if you want to learn more about
Jenna and the work that they're doing there

590
00:48:00.119 --> 00:48:04.079
at United Against Human Trafficking, as
she said, go to the website it's

591
00:48:04.159 --> 00:48:07.840
YOUAHT dot org. Last week,
if you missed the show live, you

592
00:48:07.880 --> 00:48:12.320
can always catch be a recorded podcast. We were on the air with Michelle

593
00:48:12.320 --> 00:48:16.119
Collins, who recently transformed herself at
age fifty from a corporate sales professional to

594
00:48:16.480 --> 00:48:22.159
wait for it, a comedian,
corporate inspirational speaker, and entrepreneur. We

595
00:48:22.239 --> 00:48:24.719
talked about how she arrived at the
realization she should be doing something different with

596
00:48:24.800 --> 00:48:28.480
her life, the steps she took
to make the transition, and how she

597
00:48:28.559 --> 00:48:32.119
draws on her incredibly difficult early life
for comedic and speaking content. Next week,

598
00:48:32.159 --> 00:48:36.480
we'll be on the air with Meredith
Elliott Powell talking about her work and

599
00:48:36.519 --> 00:48:42.639
book called Owning It Redefining Responsibility Stories
of power, freedom and purpose. See

600
00:48:42.639 --> 00:48:44.920
you there. Remember that work is
at least one third of our life,

601
00:48:44.960 --> 00:48:53.159
So let's work on purpose. We
hope you've enjoyed this week's program. Be

602
00:48:53.280 --> 00:48:59.400
sure to tune in to Working on
Purpose featuring your host, Alice Cortez each

603
00:48:59.440 --> 00:49:05.679
week Voice America Empowerment Channel. This
week, find your life's purpose at work