Weekly Update

Just a recap of what has been going on at the End Slavery Tennessee office the past two weeks:

• We are already starting to get prepared for the up-and-coming event The Big Payback… be sure to stay tuned for more.

• Survivors have been in throughout the week.  One was excited after going to a job fair and later was hired for her first job ever; a new referrals were in recently after attending Hannah Project and seeking help, and our teen survivor is always stopping in to just hang out with her office family! 

• One of our survivors was finally ready to have a voice and speak out about human trafficking.  We had a film crew in the office to capture her story and plenty of tears as they listened.

• Our Franklin volunteer group leader, Gwen Smith, and her husband came into the office to hang pictures painted by one of our girls.  Our hallway now proudly displays her work and all she has accomplished.

• One of our interns, Elizabeth Schuler, did a presentation just down the hall a little while ago and helped educate lawyers about the reality of human trafficking we have become all too familiar with.

• We had furniture coming through the office last week, thanks to a local Target, to give to a survivor and her family as they moved into their new house this past weekend.  We are happy they are in a better place and we are so thankful to our volunteer leaders who helped: Chris Cohen, Dana Garrett Montgomery, Gwen Smith and friends, and of course our amazing intervention specialist Shelia!

• The staff attended an in office webinar on Wednesday that discussed how to be an ally to human trafficking victims and help them become “survivor leaders.” 

• And, we even got to celebrate the birthday of our own Christine with some cupcakes and bagels from the Cupcake Collection and Panera Bread.

• We are also getting ready to release our next newsletter, Derri is speaking with a volunteer about creating a short video for the #BigPayback campaign, and our dedicated trio (Lizedny, Shelia, and Christine) are doing amazing work each day to meet with survivors and new referrals as they come in.

It takes a lot of hard work to do what we do, but we all love our jobs.  If you would like to help make a difference and support the work we do, please donate by visiting www.endslaverytn.org/donate

And don’t forget! Now when you shop be sure to use www.smile.amazon.com and select End Slavery Tennessee as your charity.  We get a percentage of your purchases direct from Amazon at no cost to you!