Salvation Army's No Little Girl… Taskforce Combats Child Sex Trafficking First Fundraising Gala to be Held Oct 1
No little girl ever said, 'when I grow up, I want to be a prostitute.' Yet each year, more than 100,000 children in the U.S. are sexually exploited, including thousands in Chicago, an epicenter of child sex trafficking. That's the impetus behind the No Little Girl… Taskforce, part of the Salvation Army's PROMISE program (Partnership to Rescue our Minors from Sexual Exploitation).
"People think this only happens in far away places," says Lori Dann, one of the taskforce's two co-founders. "But it's happening here, every day. Our mission is to stop it. Every child deserves to be loved and protected"
To that end, No Little Girl… with be hosting its first annual fundraising gala on October 1, at Glen Flora Country Club in Waukegan. The evening will include dinner and entertainment, live and silent auctions and a special musical performance by Michaela, a young survivor. Tickets cost $125 each and may be purchased at promiseagainsttrafficking.com.
The keynote speaker will be Frank Massolini, PROMISE program director. Massolini founded the Chicago's model PROMISE program in 2005. Today, PROMISE is comprised of 31 member organizations, including the Chicago Police Department, Illinois DCFS and the Department of Homeland Security, along with local hospitals and numerous children's agencies.
According to taskforce's other co-founder, Teri Dreher, RN, and president of Northshore Patient Advocates, "Child sex trafficking is the single fastest growing organized crime, generating $32 billion in annual revenue. Chicago is a hotspot because of its central location and multi-faceted transportation system-which makes it easy to move children in and out."
While every child is a potential victim, runaways and kids from dysfunctional homes are at greatest risk. Runaways are frequently drawn in by having 'survival sex' in return for food or a place to stay. Often, they're prostituted by men in their own neighborhood. Shockingly, one study found that many girls are often lured in within just 48 hours of leaving home.
The No Little Girl… taskforce is focused on prevention, intervention and treatment. Its volunteers are raising public awareness, providing training to professionals, hosting preventative classes in high schools and middle schools and providing specialized HALT (Hotel and Law Enforcement) intervention training to police and hospitality employees.
In addition, it's working to provide long-term trauma-based residential services to young victims, whose complex needs may not be met in traditional group homes. (Prostituted kids have rates of PTSD almost as high as combat veterans.)
PROMISE opened Anne's House, the first specialized group home in the country. Anne's House offers therapy, life skills training, academic/vocation support and more. It receives referrals from all over the country. But it only has eight beds, and many more are needed.
That's why all funds raised by the No Little Girl… gala will be earmarked for opening a second residential site in the Chicago area. Once funds have been raised to cover one and half years of operating expenses, the Salvation Army will purchase and build-out a home.
"We know people have a hard time accepting that child sex exploitation is happening right here," says Dreher. "But once they become aware, we know they will want to do something."
To learn more about human trafficking happening right here in Lake County,
contact Lekas & Levine PR at 847.327.9530 or JoannePR@aol.com