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 Cortes. 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
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the Working on Purpose Show. Thanks
for tuning in again this week. I'm

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your host, Atlas Cortes. Join
you live from Dallas, which is home

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this program is all about helping people
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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 the 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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us 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 and in
I guess it was August in Austin,

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and 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

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

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

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

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

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

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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 really

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

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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, the

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

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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 victims

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are a 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 we are in
nationals who are being trafficked. But it's

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

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

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

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

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this 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
better understanding of what we're really talking about

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

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

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

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

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

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thirteen thousand victims in Texas, eighty
seven 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
exactly how many people are being trafficked it's

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just a really really difficult task.
And so when we look at the number

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globally that twenty four point nine million, you know this this is talking about

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

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restaurants and agriculture and hotels and domestic
work. This is including people who are

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being forced to work in brothels and
cantenas and strip clubs and massage parlors.

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You know, we see that a
lot popping up in Houston now and across

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

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girls who are being exploited for sex. This is such a large issue that

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you know, really affects so many
individuals. And then in Texas we had

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ut Austin back in twenty sixteen that
we're really trying to understand and quantify how

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many people here in Texas alone are
actually being you know, exposed to this

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crime. And so what they did
is they really looked at labor trafficking and

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then they looked at minor sex trafficking
and that's where that three hundred and thirteen

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thousand individuals, that's where that number
came from. And you know, just

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like the global number, they found
that there was more labor trafficking cases,

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which is also another misconception. This
is not just a sex crime, but

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labor trafficking is a far more prevalent
form of human trafficking. However it is

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so it's even more of a hidden
crime than sex trafficking is and really hard

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for law enforcement to investigate. And
then they say that there's only like less

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than one percent of individuals who are
in a trafficking situation that actually get identified

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and connected to services. Oh my
gosh, that's just heavy is my heart?

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Now? I don't have no idea. If this is true, then

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you'd be a good person to ask
this question. But I was having for

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the colleague on I think it was
Tuesday and mentioned something about you coming on

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the show, and he said that
Houston is the large number one largest city

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in the United States. Dells then
the second largest city in terms of highest

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rates of trafficking. Is that true? So when we look at Texas,

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that is true, that's definitely because
Houston is the largest city here. But

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we Texas is in the top five
of the most you know, the highest

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number of trafficking cases, along with
California, New York, Ohio, and

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Florida. And I hate, I
hate to rank things because it makes it

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seem it's only happening in those places. But the reality is is that this

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is happening in every single state in
the country, and even if you don't

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hear about it, it's happening.
Unfortunately, Houston is known as an intense

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jurisdiction and this hub for traffic,
and that's for a few different reasons.

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We're one of the largest cities in
the country. So of course, as

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you have an influx of individuals living
in a place, the chances of this

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crime happening just increase. We also
have an extremely diverse population. I think

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we've surpassed New York and we are
the most diverse community. So it's really

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easy for people to be brought from
other cities and other countries and really blend

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in. We also have a lot
of international airports and seaports, and then

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we have the e tend Quarter that
cuts across the entire country and it cuts

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through Houston, making transportation really easy
for traffickers to bounce their victims around.

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Wow, that just really gives me
a whole new level of access to what

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this problem is. And next,
then what I want to understand is who's

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involved and the problem. So I
want to better understand who or what kind

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of a person or a party is
doing the trafficking. And I'm sure there

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are various kinds of parties. But
yeah, this is a really good question

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

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

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traffickers are a parent. You know, we had a case where there is

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

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hundred dollars drug debt. Then we
had a key that it was a student

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trafficking her fellow classmate who had learning
disabilities. And the reason why this young

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woe like this young girl she knew
how to do this is because she was

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dating an older man who was trying
to do this to her, so she

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flipped the script. We also see, you know, gangs becoming more involved

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in trafficking because they realize that when
you traffic a person, you don't ever

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lose your product, as opposed to
say drug trafficking, where that's a one

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time exchange. So that these individual
tools, they're just selling their product repeatedly

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and the profit. You know,
it's estimated that human trafficking brings in one

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hundred and fifty billion dollars a year. Wow, that's huge, and so

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it's really hard to kind of pinpoint
who does this, but we do know

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that there are populations that are extremely
vulnerable to trafficking, like to become trafficked,

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so, you know, those who
have past trauma, those who are

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immigrant and refugees, they might not
necessarily know their rights when they're when they

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come to the States. There's a
lot of individuals who come here with different

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visas but still get exploited, youth
who have run away or who are homeless,

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those who have mental health concerns,
and then system involvement, both youth

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and adults are heavily targeted, and
also those who are seeking love and you

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know, affection. So there's,
you know, such a lot a large

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spectrum of who can be the traffickers. But they're really great at finding vulnerabilities

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and people finding an easy way to
control and manipulate the situation. Wow,

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

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level, I got a whole new
access because I'm I'm doors for three and

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a half years, and of course
I date online dating. I'm telling you

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there are definitely predators out there,
and now I certainly and I knew I've

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recognized a few of them along the
way and didn't fall prey to them.

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But it's when you talk about you
know, people finding looking for love and

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

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I will say, Jennis, some
of these people they are I look at

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that their approach and they're it's like
written from a book, It's taken from

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a playbook. And I'm like,
wow, this is this is this is

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a fully thought out thing. Absolutely. I think, in my opinion,

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the internet is one of the most
terrifying places out there. You know,

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especially just any like young people,
anyone who you uses these different platforms can

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really fall victim to traffickers because they
know they know what they're doing. We

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have a lot of cases where we
see traffickers using these really popular social media

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apps like Snapchat and Facebook and Instagram, and then all the other ones that

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just keep on popping up like kick
and even like Tinder and things like Yellow

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are just really terrifying places. Is
because you have individuals who are time to

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connect, you know, both youth
and adults who are on these and using

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these platforms. And you know,
when you use a platform, you know

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there's that level of autonomy and that
level of vulnerability, and it's so easy

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for traffickers to just pull out information
that you don't think is necessarily a bad

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thing to share. But they are
so great at manipulating this situation and using

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it to their advantage. Yeah,
Like a perfect example is we had this

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young this young girl who just shared
that she was, you know, fighting

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with her parents again like not not
such like you know, vulnerable information to

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share, but the trafficker was able
to take that and spin that and really

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then building her up and saying the
things that she wanted to hear, like

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oh, you're such a grown up, your parents are treating you like a

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child, and really use that as
the way to get that in and to

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build that relationship. Mm hmmmmm.
It is. This is so helpful I

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think for our listeners to understand just
you know, the depth of the problem

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and how insidious it is. You've
said a little bit about how people find

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thevictims, especially online in the vulnerability
piece. I don't know if you want

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to say more about that, but
I'd also like to know how long,

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if you could say, victims typically
end up in this kind of slavery.

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Yeah, really great question. So, yeah, the way that that victims

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are found, you know, traffickers
prey on the vulnerability, so they go

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into schools, they go into homeless
shelters, they'll wait outside the jails.

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You know, again, really understanding
how to utilize and manipulate people's vulnerabilities to

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their advantage. And then in terms
of how long people out are trafficked for

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or in this cycle, it really
varies. So we see that with labor

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trafficking, there's less of a cycle
than say sex trafficking, where sex trafficking

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is really similar to the domestic violence. That that that cycle of that power

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and control wheel of you know,
the trafficker will you know, abuse the

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victim in various ways, but then
shower them with love and attention and affection,

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and then once the the you know, the victim wants to get out,

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then the trafficker will then repeat that
cycle. And that's why we see

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a lot of times, even when
law enforcement helps remove someone from a trafficking

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situation, we see that victims actually
run back to their traffickers and it takes

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a few times through this cycle for
that then the victim to really find the

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strength and really understand the gravity of
the situation and then you know, want

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

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we come in, or coalition members
come in so that we can help connect

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them to whatever stage that they might
be at and really help them through this

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really you know difficult situation. Well, Jenna, such an important work you

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and your team are doing there.
Let's grab our first break. I'm your

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host, Alis Cortez. We're on
the air with Jenna Cooper Heller, director

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of Programs for United Against Human Trafficking, joined us today from Houston, Texas.

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We've been talking about the depth and
breadth of the problem of human trafficking.

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After the break, we're going to
get into her organization solution and how

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their organization came to be. Stay
with us, we'll be right back.

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Alice Cortez is a speaker and engagement
and development catalyst. She designs and delivers

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00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:53.440
professional development, leadership and engagement workshops
and can bring her expertise to your organization.

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00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:59.680
She will help ignite meaningful development within
your workforce that will increase employee engagement,

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00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:03.799
performance and retention. To learn more
or to invite Elise to speak to

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00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:08.640
your organization, please visit her at
www dot Elisecortes dot com. She would

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00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:21.160
welcome the opportunity to help get your
employees working on purpose. This is Working

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00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:26.039
on Purpose with Elease Cortes. To
reach our program today, send an email

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00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:33.559
to a lease Alise at Aleasecortes dot
com. Now back to working on Purpose.

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Well, thanks christaying with us and
welcome back to working on Purpose.

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If you're just joining us, my
guest is Jenna Cooper Heller, Director of

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programs for United Against Human Trafficking,
which exists to ensure no human life is

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for sale by endo human trafficking through
awareness, education and outreach. I'm your

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host, Elise Cortes, So,
JENNI for this next part of the conversation,

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I did want to talk about your
organization and how it came to be.

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I did just mention the mission of
the organization, and I love that

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your vision is for all people to
experience freedom and live beyond bondage to others

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in a world that is intolerant of
buyers and sellers of human beings. Talk

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about an organization working on purpose on
a really big problem. Jenna, it's

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just so great to feature on the
show. Yeah, it's really great to

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be here because you know, we
really we really are so driven by our

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mission and we really are driven even
by our name. You know, this

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issue is so large, so we
really wanted to make sure that we can

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fill the gaps, We can find
the gaps and then fill the gaps and

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really unite the community. Well,
it's a it's phenomenal, you know.

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For me, I get really excited
when I meet people who are really doing

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something with their one precious life to
really make a difference, and they're giving

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it. They're all I mean that
to me is so much of what I

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want to showcase and I stand for. And so again when I Metro,

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it's like, oh yeah, you
can run for me, Agenna, but

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you cannot hide. I will find
you. Let's talk. So let's talk

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a little bit about how this organization
came to be. I mean, it's

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just amazing. I think you all
began back in two thousand and seven if

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I read it right on your on
your website, but share with us how

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it started in some of the key
events that got you to where you are

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today. Absolutely. Yeah, So
it actually started in two thousand and five

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in a garage. Yeah, it
was two really powerful women who heard about

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human trafficking and wanted to do something
about it. You know when they started.

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Unfortunately, human trafficking has only been
a federal crime since two thousand.

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I know that is very shocking and
completely ridiculous, but so there wasn't a

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lot of work being done, and
so when they heard about it, they

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wanted to do something about it.
So then it was actually in two thousand

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and seven that we became a five
OHO one C three nonprofit organization, and

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then also in the same year,
we launched our very first media campaign,

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so we had billboards and posts across
the entire city of Houston, really just

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trying to start that conversation, really
just trying to raise the awareness in the

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community because there was such a lack
of information about human trafficking out there.

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And so over the years we've really
focused primarily on that education and awareness side,

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so training frontline professionals, engaging the
community. And then it wasn't until

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twenty sixteen that we really started to
evolve and start including ways in which that

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we as an organization can proactively go
out in the community and try to identify

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trafficked persons and connect them to services. Oh my gosh, see what happens

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when so oft oftimes people ask me, you know, how did you discover

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your purpose? And I want to
really fine mine and I one of the

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things that we say in the space, the purpose space, is that one

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way to discover your purpose is to
look for what big nasty problem in the

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world do you stand for solving?
And I really really appreciate that these two

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women saw that and were willing to
do something about it, because the organization

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that you've created is phenomenal. So
then I want to ask, why did

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you join the organization and why is
the work important to you? Really great

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question. So I got into this
anti trafficking you know, movement because of

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my first year's field placement in grad
school I had. I went in with

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the intention of working with refugee and
immigrants and resettlement. And it wasn't until

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that placement that I actually got to
provide direct services to trafficked person And when

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I was just learning about this,
and this is like eight years ago,

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I just could not understand why we
weren't why this wasn't talked about more.

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You know, I would I would
come home from school and talk to my

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face family and my friends, and
I would even talk to my fellow classmates,

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and you know, no one really
understood what I was talking about.

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Everyone, you know, had this
very stereotypical image of what trafficking is.

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And so I kind of became obsessed
with this issue and wanting to learn more.

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And so every school assignment, every
internship, every volunteer opportunity was really

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so that I can learn more about
this, and you know, it just

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became my life work. It just
made sense. I get excited to wake

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up every morning and come to work
because I know that the work that this

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organization is doing, the work that's
being done in the Houston community, is

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so invaluable, and the fact that
I get to be a part of it,

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you know, I'm really grateful.
So I continue this work and I

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continue working for United Against Human Trafficking
because we're we're able to be really creative

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and innovative with how we're doing this
work, and we get to be that

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that uniting force in the Houston community, bringing different entities together to really address

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this huge issue. So Jenna,
now I'm really really getting present. So

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when I when you and I met
in the session that I gave there in

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the conference, I didn't even know
what you did, but you had a

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light about you. Your eyes sparkled, And now I understand, of course

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it's because you are you're working from
purpose, and I'm telling you, there's

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something about that is that is so
irresistible in people. And so I was

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already attracted to your energy and you
know your shine, and now that's I'm

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sure that's what it was behind all
that. So I just wanted you to

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I wanted you to hear that and
I wanted to acknowledge that that beautiful light

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that's coming from you, that comes
from working on purpose. Oh thank you

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

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I 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

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people or when people ask me what
I do, I feel like I'm that

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Debbie Downer in the room when I
start to tell them, like about the

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organization, and they just say like, well, how do you do this

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work? And I just say,
like, I can't imagine doing anything else.

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You know, I've been really grateful
to take some really big risks in

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my life and it's led me to
this. And I'm a true believer that

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the universe has this power to help
guide you and make sure that you're living

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your full purpose if you're willing to
take those chances and really willing to push

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and get outside your comfort zone and
just follow your gut. I completely agree,

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Jennet. That's been my path and
that's what I'm doing so much within

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organizations and with people individuals to help
them do that same thing for themselves.

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And so I come or completely aligned
now one more thing for you that I

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really want to get out here for
our listeners, because you know you're already

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affecting change within your organization, but
I also know that you're doing work advocating

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for policy change on a local,
national, and even international levels. Can

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you just say a little bit about
that. Yep. So, when I

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was still trying to learn more about
human trafficking and what that is, I

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had some really great opportunities presented themselves. And so one was that I got

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to provide a recommendation and testify at
the Sunset hearing in the Sunset Review for

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the Department of Family and Protective Services. So every federal department and entity actually

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

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and their objectives that they set in
that department. And so what 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
replacement 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Oh that is so awesome, Jenna. Oh my gosh, it just gives

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

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and I was so impressed 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 alone.

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And what I appreciate about that is
I've got a colleague who I'm in

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actually here in the radio show,
Paul Skinner, who talks about and using

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collaborative advantage as a strategy for success, well, certainly for you to combat

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the problem that you're dealing with,
You're going to need a lot of people

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there in an army, if you
will. So how do you find these

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different participating organizations? How do you
coordinate the work with them? Yeah,

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

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for several years at this point.
So it's been this really beautiful collaboration of

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different organizations who are not only doing
human trafficking specific work, but who are

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who is also doing work that may
intersect with human trafficking. So we have

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nonprofits, we have healthcare professionals,
we have faith based and tease. We've

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actually had student groups represented before really
bringing their expertise to the table and finding

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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group dedicated to direct services, we
have another committee focused on education, and

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

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be on the forefront and leading the
conversation to ensure that all the work that

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the coalition is doing is survivor informed. So impressive, it's really impressive what

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you're up to here, and I
want to give you a chance to maybe

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share about one of those pursuing organizations. But let's grab our last break if

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we can. I'm Elise Cortez,
your host. We've been on the year

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00:30:26.319 --> 00:30:30.200
with Jenna Cooper Heller, director of
Programs for United Against Human Trafficking JUDUS today

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00:30:30.200 --> 00:30:33.240
from Houston, Texas. After the
break, we're going to hear more about

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00:30:33.240 --> 00:30:37.440
their specific programs and how they work. Stay with us, we'll be right

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00:30:37.480 --> 00:31:00.920
back. Alice Cortez is a speaker
and in engagement and development catalyst. She

380
00:31:02.039 --> 00:31:07.839
designs and delivers professional development, leadership
and engagement workshops and can bring her expertise

381
00:31:07.880 --> 00:31:11.640
to your organization. She will help
ignite meaningful development within your workforce that will

382
00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:17.720
increase employee engagement, performance and retention. To learn more or to invite Elise

383
00:31:17.799 --> 00:31:22.599
to speak to your organization, please
visit her at www dot Elisecortes dot com.

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00:31:22.640 --> 00:31:27.079
She would welcome the opportunity to help
get your employees working on purpose.

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00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:38.440
This is working on Purpose with Elease
Cortes. To reach our program today,

386
00:31:38.680 --> 00:31:45.640
send an email to a lease Alic
at Aleasecortes dot com. Now back to

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00:31:45.880 --> 00:31:51.960
working on purpose. Thanks foresting with
us, and welcome back to working on

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00:31:52.039 --> 00:31:55.079
purpose. If you're just tuning in, My guest is Jenna Cooper Heller,

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director of Programs for United Against Human
Trafficking, which exists to ensure no human

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00:31:59.720 --> 00:32:04.119
life for sale by ending human trafficking
through awareness, education and outreach. I'm

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00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:07.480
your host at Least Cortes. So, Jenna, just before the last break,

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we were talking about some of your
participating organizations, your partners. Is

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there maybe one or two that you
want to showcase help us understand what they

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do and how you partner together.
Absolutely. So. One of the newest

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coalition members is an organization called Elevate
sixty one, and what they focus on

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is serving men who've been trafficked and
their plan is to provide a shelter right

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now. They help them with rent
and connecting them to a safe place to

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stay. So that has been a
huge gap in the Houston community that this

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00:32:44.039 --> 00:32:47.599
coalition member has now been able to
fill. So or if any of the

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coalition members, if they identify a
mail they are able to directly connect them

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00:32:52.480 --> 00:32:57.640
to Elevate sixty one, another would
be a hawk. So the Houston Area

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00:32:57.640 --> 00:33:01.039
Women's Center is another organization who's been
a part of the coalition for a few

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00:33:01.119 --> 00:33:06.880
years, and they have historically really
focused on that domestic violence, but understanding

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00:33:06.920 --> 00:33:10.640
the connection between human trafficking and domestic
violence, they've been able to bring that

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00:33:10.799 --> 00:33:16.559
expertise of really filling that gap and
filling that understanding of how the two intersect.

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00:33:17.680 --> 00:33:21.799
Jenny, I so appreciate how crisp
you are giving us so much information,

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00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:23.839
really teaching us a lot about the
space that I know I didn't know

408
00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:27.680
anything about. And what I'm really
getting present to is how much we really

409
00:33:27.720 --> 00:33:30.119
do need to be educated about it. And I know one of your programs

410
00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:35.240
that you focus on our educational programs
in nature, can you say a little

411
00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:39.079
bit about them and what they surface
and who they serve. Absolutely, so,

412
00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:43.440
we kind of do two things in
education. So one, we target

413
00:33:43.440 --> 00:33:50.279
frontline professionals because we know that traffic
persons very rarely self identify for like a

414
00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:53.200
plethora of reasons. So we want
to be able to train those who may

415
00:33:53.200 --> 00:33:58.640
be on the frontline and those who
may intersect with the traffic person, and

416
00:33:58.680 --> 00:34:01.880
we want to provide them the skills
and the knowledge that they need to effectively

417
00:34:01.920 --> 00:34:07.239
do that. So we work with
law enforcement, with educators, healthcare providers,

418
00:34:07.400 --> 00:34:13.559
hospitality staff, social service entities,
literally anyone who will listen to us.

419
00:34:13.599 --> 00:34:17.039
We want to talk to them as
many people as possible, and so

420
00:34:17.079 --> 00:34:21.639
we talk about, you know,
what are some red flags to look for,

421
00:34:21.960 --> 00:34:24.599
what are some of the questions that
you can ask, really breaking down

422
00:34:24.639 --> 00:34:29.960
the misconceptions of what human trafficking really
is, and then making sure that they

423
00:34:30.039 --> 00:34:35.760
know how what steps they need to
take to effectively respond to a trafficking situation.

424
00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:38.000
Who to connect them to, what
are the resources in the community.

425
00:34:38.480 --> 00:34:42.719
And then on the flip side of
that, we really wanted to connect with

426
00:34:43.039 --> 00:34:49.840
community members because this is such a
large issue and when you hear about it,

427
00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:52.639
it gets a little overwhelming. So
you know, even for the listeners

428
00:34:52.679 --> 00:34:57.320
who are listening in you know,
there are things that you can do,

429
00:34:57.440 --> 00:35:01.199
you know, just being aware,
knowing who is in your neighborhood. We

430
00:35:01.239 --> 00:35:06.199
had a case where there was a
woman being trafficked within a home in a

431
00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:09.920
gated community, a really nice gated
community, and she was being trafficked.

432
00:35:10.400 --> 00:35:15.360
She was being forced to work over
twenty hours a day taking care of the

433
00:35:15.400 --> 00:35:22.159
two young children, not being paid. And it was you know, concerned

434
00:35:22.159 --> 00:35:27.239
neighbors who responded and did something.
And then on the labor trafficking side,

435
00:35:27.360 --> 00:35:31.800
you know, I think we all
have an obligation to be more conscious of

436
00:35:31.840 --> 00:35:37.960
where we buy products. So that's
kind of the intention behind our community engagement,

437
00:35:37.000 --> 00:35:42.960
in our community education. We really
want to make sure that every community

438
00:35:43.000 --> 00:35:46.880
member, every person in our community
has the tools, no matter what role

439
00:35:47.119 --> 00:35:52.199
or profession they might be involved in, that they know what this is and

440
00:35:52.239 --> 00:35:57.840
they know how to respond, they
know what their part is in addressing this

441
00:35:57.960 --> 00:36:04.039
issue. Phenomenal, phenomenal work.
And now I want to take it to

442
00:36:04.679 --> 00:36:07.280
an area near and dear to my
heart, and that's the youth prevention work

443
00:36:07.280 --> 00:36:09.960
that you do. I do have
a daughter of my own, but I

444
00:36:10.119 --> 00:36:15.599
really literally gasped when I read on
your website that fifty five percent of domestic

445
00:36:15.639 --> 00:36:19.719
minor victims of sex traffing age seven
to eleven are recruited through social media,

446
00:36:19.760 --> 00:36:22.800
apps and websites. To your point
earlier, the internet is a very very

447
00:36:22.840 --> 00:36:29.119
frightening place. So how does United
Against Human Drafficking educated and intervening to help

448
00:36:29.159 --> 00:36:32.079
youth? Then? Yeah, so
just talking to them, right, so

449
00:36:32.119 --> 00:36:36.760
they don't know what they don't know, and so we're able to just come

450
00:36:36.800 --> 00:36:42.119
in there with non judgmental We're not
telling them what they should or shouldn't do,

451
00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:46.000
but more just from that empowerment approach
of hey, this is what's going

452
00:36:46.039 --> 00:36:50.280
on out there, we want you
to be safe. Here are some tools

453
00:36:50.280 --> 00:36:53.320
that you can use to make sure
that you know as you continue to use

454
00:36:53.360 --> 00:36:59.039
these social media platforms, because we
know that they're not going to stop doing

455
00:36:59.079 --> 00:37:01.400
that and using that, but what
are some things that we can help them

456
00:37:02.039 --> 00:37:07.599
to ensure their safety. So is
the privacy on how do you not share

457
00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:12.280
too much information with individuals that you
don't know, and then just talking about

458
00:37:12.400 --> 00:37:16.199
how to stay safe and just social
interactions that might not be on social media,

459
00:37:16.679 --> 00:37:22.199
so that we can make sure that
youth are not only able to protect

460
00:37:22.239 --> 00:37:28.159
themselves, but also help protect their
peers. And so we offer three different

461
00:37:28.159 --> 00:37:32.840
programs. We have our awareness workshops, we have our prevention program that we

462
00:37:34.840 --> 00:37:38.920
adopt from Level one forty six,
which is another coalition member and an international

463
00:37:39.000 --> 00:37:47.119
organization. They put together this really
beautiful, holistic, comprehensive five module prevention

464
00:37:47.280 --> 00:37:52.480
program. So we're trained facilitators,
so we're able to provide that. And

465
00:37:52.519 --> 00:37:57.920
then the most recent initiative that we
started is the Resiliency Project. What we

466
00:37:57.960 --> 00:38:04.199
are seeing is that there are so
many empowered and amazing young people that once

467
00:38:04.199 --> 00:38:07.719
they learned about human trafficking, they
wanted to do something. They ask,

468
00:38:07.880 --> 00:38:12.039
Okay, so what's next? What
can we do? And so we created

469
00:38:12.079 --> 00:38:20.079
this Resiliency Project to empower the next
generation of individuals who want to be advocates

470
00:38:20.159 --> 00:38:22.039
in their community. So we teach
them how to do that. We teach

471
00:38:22.079 --> 00:38:29.639
them how to organize educational events for
parents and for educators and for their peers.

472
00:38:29.719 --> 00:38:36.199
We teach them how to do awareness
activities such as the Weedstand project,

473
00:38:36.679 --> 00:38:42.000
and then just really help support their
creativity in bringing awareness to their community.

474
00:38:43.000 --> 00:38:46.400
That is brilliant and beautiful. Jenna, And one thing that's interesting is I've

475
00:38:46.639 --> 00:38:51.760
had other guests on the show that
talk about the importance of exposing youth to

476
00:38:52.159 --> 00:38:57.119
community service of sorts, helping others
beyond themselves, and how important that is

477
00:38:57.159 --> 00:39:00.800
to develop their own sense of self
esteem, a sense of papus, that

478
00:39:00.840 --> 00:39:04.360
they generally do better in life,
they stay away from crime, they they

479
00:39:04.559 --> 00:39:07.920
you know, they just do better
when they're exposed to like that early on

480
00:39:07.960 --> 00:39:09.960
in life. I love it that
you're giving that channel as well for these

481
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.440
youth to be part of the solution. Yeah. Absolutely, And it's just

482
00:39:14.480 --> 00:39:21.000
been so powerful to watch these young
people really just take to such a large

483
00:39:21.000 --> 00:39:25.639
issue, such a messy issue,
such a gruesome issue, and really make

484
00:39:25.719 --> 00:39:31.159
it their own and really do what
they can to elevate their voices in their

485
00:39:31.199 --> 00:39:36.239
community and connect with peers, because
peers are going to listen more to peers,

486
00:39:36.639 --> 00:39:42.800
So why not just provide those tools
to those young people to to let

487
00:39:42.880 --> 00:39:47.480
them do that and to give them
that opportunity to really shine. Mm hmmmm.

488
00:39:50.400 --> 00:39:52.280
One of the other things that I
was really excited to hear about that

489
00:39:52.280 --> 00:39:57.599
you're that you're doing in your Supportive
Services ARM is you have a trauma informed

490
00:39:57.639 --> 00:40:00.599
program called real Talk, which I
understand pro it's an outload for at risk

491
00:40:00.639 --> 00:40:06.880
individuals and survivors to process their exploitation. So so so important for people to

492
00:40:06.880 --> 00:40:08.480
have a way to be able to
make sense of and move on and heal

493
00:40:08.559 --> 00:40:12.559
from what they've been through. Can
you tell us a little bit about those

494
00:40:12.599 --> 00:40:17.039
services. Yeah, So we created
this after you know, just doing some

495
00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:23.239
interviews with survivors and then with facilities
who are serving survivors and really trying to

496
00:40:23.559 --> 00:40:30.199
understand the gaps. You know,
there's a lot of organizations who are doing

497
00:40:30.239 --> 00:40:36.519
amazing work in that emergency response and
emergency rescue, but we wanted to be

498
00:40:36.559 --> 00:40:43.719
able to create a program that allows
us to provide more of that longer term,

499
00:40:43.960 --> 00:40:47.320
more of that empowerment, that resiliency
helps them really kind of move,

500
00:40:49.480 --> 00:40:52.360
you know, forward, And so
we created real Talk. It's a ten

501
00:40:52.800 --> 00:41:01.679
module program where we where we talk
about really real topics that can increase someone's

502
00:41:01.760 --> 00:41:07.519
vulnerability. Because we know that individuals
who've experienced some form of trauma have an

503
00:41:07.559 --> 00:41:13.039
increased risk of being trafficked, and
then we know that individuals who have been

504
00:41:13.119 --> 00:41:17.400
trafficked are at great risk of revictimization. So we wanted to create a program

505
00:41:17.400 --> 00:41:22.360
that is basically an outlet for individuals
to kind of process what they've gone through

506
00:41:23.039 --> 00:41:29.079
in a really structured way. So
we wanted to introduce that psycho educational component,

507
00:41:29.400 --> 00:41:37.679
so talking about trauma, giving them
the understanding that it's not them.

508
00:41:37.920 --> 00:41:43.400
You know, they might have ancher
management now, or anxiety or you know,

509
00:41:43.480 --> 00:41:46.039
all the different things that come with
trauma, but it's not that they're

510
00:41:46.079 --> 00:41:50.840
a bad person. It's because of
what happened to them. So we've tried

511
00:41:50.840 --> 00:41:58.480
to shift that ownership that that victim
blaming away from that person and make them

512
00:41:58.559 --> 00:42:02.400
understand that it's because of what they've
gone through that and the trauma that now

513
00:42:02.440 --> 00:42:07.000
their brain is rewired. So let's
talk about that. Let's give them the

514
00:42:07.000 --> 00:42:12.760
tools that they need to really restructure
the way that their brain is now operating

515
00:42:12.840 --> 00:42:16.239
because for so long they were in
the survival state. So we want to

516
00:42:16.320 --> 00:42:22.639
introduce things like the topic of trauma
and healthy relationships and safety planning. But

517
00:42:22.679 --> 00:42:27.840
then we also want to share with
them some useful coping strategies, so we

518
00:42:27.920 --> 00:42:32.119
introduce things like art therapy and music
therapy. And what's been the most powerful

519
00:42:32.159 --> 00:42:37.119
one to see is actually the power
of breath. So we introduce some yogic

520
00:42:37.360 --> 00:42:43.599
breathing so that they have now the
power to control their body. They have

521
00:42:43.719 --> 00:42:49.440
the power now to control the way
they respond to different situations. So it's

522
00:42:49.519 --> 00:42:53.280
really been an amazing program. We've
been fortunate enough to take it into the

523
00:42:53.360 --> 00:42:59.639
jail system, the juvenile justice system. We work with youth who've been in

524
00:42:59.679 --> 00:43:06.519
foster care or facilities who actually directly
serve survivors of trafficking. So this program

525
00:43:06.559 --> 00:43:12.360
has really been able to be adopted
across different populations, at different ages and

526
00:43:12.519 --> 00:43:15.880
different settings. And we actually are
now starting to really focus on having male

527
00:43:16.079 --> 00:43:22.519
only groups and those have been extremely
powerful just to get males comfortable with talking

528
00:43:22.519 --> 00:43:29.960
about some of these really hard topics
that they've been so they've been taught,

529
00:43:29.960 --> 00:43:32.880
and it's so ingrained in our society
for men to not talk about these things

530
00:43:32.880 --> 00:43:37.679
and not talk about their feelings.
But we know that men can be victims

531
00:43:37.719 --> 00:43:39.639
too, so we want to be
able to create that outlet for them.

532
00:43:42.239 --> 00:43:45.400
I continue as I sit here and
listen to you in this conversation to be

533
00:43:45.440 --> 00:43:47.960
amazed at just the sheer depth and
breadth of what you're up to in this

534
00:43:49.079 --> 00:43:52.840
organization. It's so impressive and for
you giving us really great access to what

535
00:43:52.960 --> 00:43:57.360
it is that you're doing so that
we can understand and be involved. And

536
00:43:57.400 --> 00:43:59.639
so to that and the last thing
that I wanted to talk about that I

537
00:43:59.679 --> 00:44:02.519
knew is part of what you do
there is your outreach. So what does

538
00:44:02.519 --> 00:44:07.800
that look like and what form does
that take anstally, So for our outreach,

539
00:44:07.960 --> 00:44:14.679
we wanted to make sure that we
were pushing outside of these boundaries of

540
00:44:14.760 --> 00:44:22.920
human trafficking and connect with different organizations
and different populations that we know intersect with

541
00:44:22.000 --> 00:44:28.000
human trafficking. So a lot of
our outreach has been to individuals who've experienced

542
00:44:28.039 --> 00:44:34.159
homelessness, those are part of the
immigrant and refugee community, those with mental

543
00:44:34.320 --> 00:44:37.559
health concerns as well as substance dependency, and we connect with them, we

544
00:44:37.639 --> 00:44:43.039
talk to them, We just go
out. We go out in the streets,

545
00:44:43.119 --> 00:44:47.360
we go into facilities who serve these
various populations, and we just want

546
00:44:47.400 --> 00:44:53.239
to share information about human trafficking.
We do rapid assessments to see if people

547
00:44:53.280 --> 00:44:58.199
are being trafficked, and then the
most important thing is is we share what

548
00:44:58.280 --> 00:45:01.639
services are in the community, and
so if we do get a disclosure,

549
00:45:01.679 --> 00:45:07.800
we are able to plug that person
in right to direct services or whatever you

550
00:45:07.880 --> 00:45:14.239
know needs they may meant or we're
able to just talk about human trafficking so

551
00:45:14.280 --> 00:45:20.360
that they can help their peers,
they can help individuals who they know might

552
00:45:20.400 --> 00:45:24.719
be in a situation of trafficking.
Brilliant into that. And I want to

553
00:45:24.760 --> 00:45:29.920
make sure that anybody who's listening to
this knows exactly how to find your organization.

554
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:32.039
Where would you send them to go
to go looking? Yes, so

555
00:45:32.159 --> 00:45:37.880
our website it's been recently relaunched and
updated, so it has all this great

556
00:45:37.880 --> 00:45:45.199
information on there, and you can
find us at you a ht dot org

557
00:45:45.880 --> 00:45:51.400
or you can give us a call
at seven one three eight seven four zero

558
00:45:51.480 --> 00:45:55.559
two nine zero. We love to
connect, We love to share information about

559
00:45:55.599 --> 00:46:00.159
human trafficking, and most importantly,
we love to empower. So you feel

560
00:46:00.480 --> 00:46:06.159
connected to this information and this work. We would be happy to plug you

561
00:46:06.199 --> 00:46:12.000
in and find resources for you to
do that. Beautiful Jenna, So as

562
00:46:12.320 --> 00:46:14.679
you as most mosters who've been listening
for a while, No, I do

563
00:46:14.840 --> 00:46:16.639
like to give my guests something of
the last word, if you will,

564
00:46:16.760 --> 00:46:21.760
so you know the show is listen
to from people across the globe, and

565
00:46:21.760 --> 00:46:25.079
it's really designed to help them more
meaningfully and productively connect with their work and

566
00:46:25.119 --> 00:46:29.679
their life, what would you like
to leave them with? Yeah, so

567
00:46:29.760 --> 00:46:32.000
one thing I really live by is
you know, do what you love,

568
00:46:32.079 --> 00:46:37.280
and love what you do. If
you're doing something and it doesn't feel right,

569
00:46:37.400 --> 00:46:40.719
it's probably because you're not on your
intended path. So definitely, you

570
00:46:40.760 --> 00:46:45.880
know, take chances, grow your
network, investigate some of the things that

571
00:46:45.920 --> 00:46:51.440
you're curious about, and you know, really be okay with going outside your

572
00:46:51.480 --> 00:46:54.199
comfort zone. And then most importantly, trust your gut. You know,

573
00:46:54.519 --> 00:46:59.400
if it doesn't feel right, it's
probably not for you. But you know,

574
00:46:59.440 --> 00:47:02.360
your gut is really powerful, and
once you're on your right path,

575
00:47:02.519 --> 00:47:07.280
you know that. I think the
universe has a really unique and powerful way

576
00:47:07.320 --> 00:47:14.400
of making sure that they open up
really great opportunities for you. So yeah,

577
00:47:14.519 --> 00:47:17.400
don't be afraid, be brave.
Beautiful way to finish, Jenna,

578
00:47:17.440 --> 00:47:21.039
And again, thank you for coming
on to Working on Purpose. I think

579
00:47:21.239 --> 00:47:23.000
you were a little bit slightly taken
aback when I reached out to saying,

580
00:47:23.039 --> 00:47:25.920
hey, why don't you come on
the radio? What you said, yes,

581
00:47:27.039 --> 00:47:31.360
And you just gave us a beautiful
insight into this world that we need

582
00:47:31.400 --> 00:47:35.079
to eradicate, which is human trafficking. And I thank you so much.

583
00:47:35.079 --> 00:47:37.880
For sharing your heart and soul with
us. Yeah, and thank you so

584
00:47:37.000 --> 00:47:40.760
much for having me. It's been
really amazing to just be connected with you

585
00:47:40.840 --> 00:47:45.000
and to be able to share some
of the work that we're doing in Houston,

586
00:47:45.679 --> 00:47:52.719
but also hopefully encourage and inspire your
listeners to really find their purpose.

587
00:47:52.400 --> 00:47:58.000
Absolutely, absolutely so, listeners.
If you want to learn more about Jenna

588
00:47:58.320 --> 00:48:01.880
and the work that they're doing there
at United Against Human Trafficking, as she

589
00:48:01.880 --> 00:48:07.920
said, go to the website it's
YOUAHT dot org. Last week, if

590
00:48:07.960 --> 00:48:10.159
you missed the show live, you
can always catch a be recorded podcast.

591
00:48:10.239 --> 00:48:14.599
We were on the air with Michelle
Collins, who recently transformed herself at age

592
00:48:14.599 --> 00:48:19.880
fifty from a corporate sales professional to
wait for it, a comedian, corporate

593
00:48:19.960 --> 00:48:23.119
inspirational speaker, and entrepreneur. We
talked about how she arrived at the realization

594
00:48:23.239 --> 00:48:27.239
she should be doing something different with
her life, the steps she took to

595
00:48:27.280 --> 00:48:30.599
make the transition, and how she
draws on her incredibly difficult early life for

596
00:48:30.639 --> 00:48:34.280
comedic and speaking content. Next week, we'll be on the air with Merriath

597
00:48:34.599 --> 00:48:38.800
Elliott Powell talking about her work and
book called Owning It, Redefining Responsibility,

598
00:48:39.079 --> 00:48:43.400
Stories of power, freedom, and
purpose. See you there. Remember that

599
00:48:43.480 --> 00:48:45.320
work is at least one third of
our life, So let's work on purpose.

600
00:48:51.679 --> 00:48:54.239
We hope you've enjoyed this week's program. Be sure to tune in to

601
00:48:54.400 --> 00:49:00.480
Working on Purpose, featuring your host
Alis Cortes, each week on the Voice

602
00:49:00.519 --> 00:49:05.760
America Empowerment Channel. This week,
find your life's purpose at work