By: Jenny Almquist
I’m pretty sure it was one of the most humbling days of my life. Last week I went with one of our interns to speak with a group of youth at the Northwest Regional Juvenile Detention Center (JDC). I supposed I hadn’t prepared myself; how could I have, really? I had never been in a facility like that in my life and I didn’t know what to expect.
We walked into the building and rode the elevator to the third floor. We waited for several minutes to be accompanied into the JDC part of the building. As we waited, they came out one by one – out from their cells. That’s right, cells. These kids have done some pretty bad stuff. One young man had already been there for four months.
We had less than an hour with the youth, five of them. I am not sure how many youth were in the building that day, but five had earned the privilege to come out and listen to us. They seemed happy to be there – maybe it was the two bags of candy in my hand.
I was humbled at the opportunity to speak with a truly vulnerable part of our society. Statistics show us that these young people are at risk to either become victims of human trafficking or to victimize and become traffickers.
Our newest employee, Carrie Swartz, will be working with these kids on a regular basis. Her background in Social Work and her experience with teaching at risk youth will benefit her as she writes curriculum to speak to the specific needs of these youth.
Thank you to the staff of the Northwest Regional JDC for the work that you do, for working with and investing in the lives of these kids. And thank you for giving us the opportunity to have a positive influence on them as well.
Fierce Freedom’s Mission is to educate, that is what we do. Did you know that we speak to groups such as:
Area police departments
Medical staff
Staff at local jails
Teachers at private and public schools (and students at those schools)
Civic organizations such as Lions Clubs, Rotary Clubs and Kiwanis Clubs
Church staff and youth groups
And more…
We also have specialized presentations such as:
Human Trafficking 101
Middle School and High School Prevention and Awareness
How to talk to your kids about tough subjects (Pornography, human trafficking, sexting, etc.)
Connections between pornography and human trafficking
Faith Community’s role in fighting human trafficking
How to talk to community leaders
Movie screenings with guided discussions
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