Getting the Word Out November 2015

by Ondrea Johnson, Director of Community Relations 

October provided some exciting education opportunities for End Slavery Tennessee's education programs.  The first weekend of October, we were invited to deliver a very important presentation to the State's foster parents at the DCS Foster Parents' Conference.  In conjunction with Second Life Chattanooga and Restore Corps out of Memphis, we led a three hour presentation to foster parents about trauma informed care, laws governing minor victims of trafficking, and what services we all offer victims.  The group was very engaged and we actually made one referral to the hotline from the session, when a foster parent recognized that her foster child had been trafficked.  

That same day, volunteers and staff members participated in The Ride for Refuge, which not only helped raise funds for End Slavery Tennessee, but also gave us the opportunity to bring more awareness to the issue in our state and some fun team building as well.   

As a result of our luncheon, we were invited to present to a number of community groups including  Directors of Emergency Medicine for HCA/Tri-Star.  HCA and TriStar implemented screening questions for all their ER staff.  We are enthusiastic about partnering with HCA to also educate their staff on compassionately interacting with identified human trafficking victims in their care.  

As you may have read, the education department also welcomed a new staff member this month.  We are delighted to have Holly Shelton on board to deliver training and prevention education throughout the community.