The Sad Reality & The Hopeful Reality. We Get to Choose!*Story used with permission At this moment I am sitting in my cozy home office looking out at the cold white fluffy snow and the steel grey sky; thinking how well the overcast gloom reflects what is going on...

Maureen's Story*Story used with permission One late afternoon there was a quiet knock on the Fierce Freedom office door. That day I was the only one in the office and it was our practice to keep doors locked when staff was there alone. I sat quietly to listen, and I...

*Story used with permission When I (Jenny) entered the world of fighting human trafficking, I was a black and white kind of girl. Now looking back, I see that I have made quite a journey over the last 17 years, and it is crazy that today I really am just fine with...

8 Mile, have you seen the movie? Earlier in my life I would have been offended by almost everything in the movie. Constant “F” you and “F”ing that …I would have passed judgement and turned it off before the intro ended. It is rated R for sex, violence and language and...

https://www.weau.com/2021/07/23/onefest-brings-christian-music-back-center-stage/

By: Carrie Swartz, Office Administrator and Race Director Wine and hors d'oeuvres at Tuft’s Mansion Bed and Breakfast in Neillsville made for an elegant setting at Fierce Freedom of Central Wisconsin’s kickoff event on Saturday, June 30, 2018. The “Mingle” was open to...

Watch our website for updates and changes to the schedule of events * Denotes free event, + denotes open to the public Aug. 30, 6:00-8:00 PM- Fierce Freedom Board Meeting, Altoona WI Sept. 10, 6:30-7:30 PM- Empower Youth Program, SPARK Program, Eau Claire WI Sept. 14,...

By: Carrie Swartz, Office Administrator and Race Director I shared a tearful moment with Fierce Freedom’s Survivor Advocate, Tia-Janae Johnson, on the morning of the 11th annual Just Us for Justice Run/Walk. It was Tia’s first year being a part of the pasta dinner and...

If you’d like to learn more about what it means to shop ethically and be an informed consumer, come join the conversation with Fierce Freedom on Tuesday, October 2nd, from 7:00pm – 9:00pm for our first ever Labor Trafficking Panel. The evening will take place at...

We are thrilled to announce the opening of our online Etsy store! We strive to offer a range of high quality, ethically-sourced products that help raise awareness of our mission to end human trafficking and exploitation. Every purchase will go towards public education...

By: Tia-Janae Johnson, Survivor Advocate In November of 2017, while living in Oregon, I was invited by a woman named Kimberly Brune to go on a 6-month mission trip to Cape Town South Africa to fight against human trafficking. This opportunity stirred up many emotions...

By: Cat Jacoby, Public Relations and Program Coordinator Have you ever attended one of our presentations and wanted to do more? Is your heart burdened for the issue of human trafficking and exploitation but you’re unsure about how to move forward? I want to share with...

By: Jenny Almquist, Co-Founder and Executive Director Since we started our organization we have said that we do not, and likely never will, provide direct services to victims who have been sex or labor trafficked- our mission is to educate! We all know that we should...

Noah Hanson is Fierce Freedom’s spring intern, a senior at UW-Eau Claire majoring in Social Work. Noah has worked hard on variety of projects, and has been a great asset to Fierce Freedom this semester. Some of the highlights include Cookies for Cops, planning the...

Cat is thrilled to join such an amazing organization and work alongside an incredible team of social justice warriors. Her passion for this cause was sparked into flame during college while being part of International Justice Mission and after attending a Fierce...

By: Jenny Almquist, Co-Founder and Executive Director Several months ago I was at a wedding where the groom stood at the front of the church just before the ceremony and personally welcomed the guests. One thing he said was “Please know that everything we do today in...

By: Jodi Emerson, Public Policy and Community Relations As Fierce Freedom continues to grow, we are always developing new programming. While we have primarily focused on awareness about sex trafficking in the past, we feel compelled to include some programming around...

By: Jessica Reints, Fierce Freedom Neillsville Volunteer Fierce Freedom of Neillsville is happy to announce its official launch! We are comprised of a small group of amazing people, with a variety of skills and knowledge. Many of us have worked in the mental health,...

Dan is a Certified Public Accountant with Bauman Associates, an accounting firm in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  For the past 14 years he has worked with many area nonprofit clients on accounting and compliance requirements. After hearing about human trafficking, Dan wanted...

By Carrie Swartz Office Administrator Minors are a target audience in the scope of Fierce Freedom’s human sex trafficking education and prevention outreach, and for good reason. The average age of entry into trafficking is 11-14 years old for both boys and girls...

By Jodi Emerson Director of Public Policy and Community Relations 2017 has been a busy anti-trafficking legislative year! We are thrilled with the attention that human trafficking is getting from elected officials at both the state and national level. Fierce Freedom...

By Jenny Almquist Fierce Freedom Co-Founder and Executive Director A year ago, I would have never dreamed that as an organization we would be positioned as we are - in a truly strategic way to make change in the state of Wisconsin. As you read through this newsletter...

Dear Friend, Thanks to your support, Fierce Freedom has been able to bring awareness and promote education of human trafficking in our communities. As we near the end of this year, we are especially thankful for the many generous donations to our organization that...

January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Fierce Freedom has several events planned to increase awareness in the Chippewa Valley. All events are FREE and open to the public. Please join us! WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10th, 6-7:30 PM KEEPING KIDS SAFE IN A DIGITAL AGE ST...

Thank you to Chairman Kitchens and the committee for listening to the testimony of myself and others today about AB 186. My name is Jodi Emerson and I am the Director of Public Policy and Community Relations for Fierce Freedom. Fierce Freedom is a non-profit, based in...

AB 186/SB 344: This bill is commonly known as the Safe Harbor bill and we are 100% behind it. This bill would not allow children under the age of 18 to be charged with prostitution. Last session, we were able to get prostitution of a child classified as child abuse,...

Our main goal with federal legislation is to help close the loopholes that allow companies like Backpage.com to make millions of dollars from advertising the trafficking of children. If you have not seen the movie “I Am Jane Doe”, we highly recommend you do so as it...

8/22 – LaCrosse Task Force Training, LaCrosse WI 9/7 – Internet Safety for Kids, Menomonie WI 9/15 – Sara Groves Benefit Concert, Eau Claire WI *If you would like to volunteer for this event, contact carrie@fiercefreedom.org 9/18 – Dunn County Health Coalition,...

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...

Bryan is a management-side employment and labor-relations attorney at Weld Riley, S.C. in Eau Claire.   Bryan’s law practice emphasizes, among other things, collective bargaining; the defense of harassment, discrimination and retaliation claims; the defense of wage...

Carrie is the Office Administrator at Fierce Freedom. Her eyes were first opened to modern-day slavery in 2007, when she became involved with organizing the Just Us for Justice Run/Walk. Carrie has long been passionate about helping disadvantaged and oppressed people,...

By: Carrie Swartz The Just Us for Justice Run/Walk celebrated a big birthday this year, holding its 10th annual event on Wednesday July 19th at Carson Park in Eau Claire. The founder and director of the race, Jessie Podolak, officially “retired” as director this year,...

The phone rang in our office and a woman on the other end of the line said “please talk to my daughter— she has been sex trafficked.” Our new friend agreed to come to the office and she told us her horrific story. She spoke of when she was a young girl sold over and...

Bring your popcorn and get ready to help us spread awareness by attending some of our upcoming movie screenings. We are screening two movies over the next few months and we would love for you to join us. Both movies are free and open to the public. Please see upcoming...

Sept 29 - Menomonie Public Library - Chosen 6.30 Oct 3 – Eau Claire Public Library - Chosen 7PM Oct 9 – Parkview Baptist Church, Black River Falls WI – 8:15AM and 10:30AM Oct 20 – Corporate Partnership and Just us for Justice Run Sponsorship meeting Oct 23 – Alliance...

Owner of VES Environmental Solutions, LLC., Acer Trading Group, LLC. (CEO), VES Asia, LLC. and VES Environmental Solutions Europe Limited (2008-Present) My interest and involvement in Fierce Freedom comes from my many years of traveling the world and seeing the impact...

By Jenny Almquist As a growing organization it is critical that members of the Board of Directors are dedicated to our mission. I alone could never lead this organization—nor would I want to! I couldn’t be more proud and thankful for this group that brings their...

By Jodi Emerson We live in a digital age. We’ve seen how websites have made human trafficking available to the masses. But did you also know that there are many websites and apps out there to help fight trafficking? Fierce Freedom has spent some time looking at a few...

By Jessie Podolak The 9th Annual Just Us for Justice Run was a huge success this July.  Despite dangerously high temperatures, runners (674 of them), volunteers (175 of them) and supporters headed to Carson Park to support Fierce Freedom and International Justice...

 Have you ever wondered what you can do to help fight trafficking but don’t know where to start? Join us for our Freedom and Food event and help raise money to fight trafficking here in the Chippewa Valley. The Food and Freedom event will be at the Altoona Family...

On April 7th, Fierce Freedom will be sponsoring an event aimed at helping area faith communities identify and fight human trafficking. The event will feature talks from Pastor Steve Rutter, Pastor James Whatley, Jodi Emerson of Fierce Freedom, Lt Ryan Dahlgren of the...

Several years ago I was giving a presentation when I stated that I believe that modern-day slavery can be abolished in our generation. One person in the crowd was quite vocal about the impossibility of that goal. However, we at Fierce Freedom believe it to be...

It’s true! Birthday for a Cause is back! Not just as a one-time event but as an event that can be easily replicated. Some of you might remember that several years ago, Joyce Orth decided that for her 55th birthday she wanted to do something with “purpose.”  Her goal...

What can you do to help fight human trafficking?      Talk about the reality of sex trafficking with friends and family      Report suspicious activity to 1-888-3737-888      Mentor at risk youth      Follow us on Facebook      Designate Fierce Freedom as your Amazon...