The Roseville club hosted a fundraiser, Flights for Freedom, at BentBrewstillery on Monday, April 29, 2019 from 4 – 7 PM.  Roseville Rotary, Roseville Police Foundation, Roseville Visitors Association, Grace Church and Roseville PD were all involved.  Ramsey County Attorney John Choi spoke during the event.

See more info on the link below:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/freedom-flights-tickets-57040869777

Three separate events were held as part of the initiative to stop human trafficking in Roseville, MN. This initiative is a partnership of the Roseville Police Foundation, Roseville Rotary, Roseville Visitors Association, and Grace Church all working together to fund Human Trafficking Efforts of Roseville Police Department. The 3 events were held as follows:

• September 18, 2018: The objective was to target perpetrators and gather intelligence. It was held from 9 AM to 6 PM.
• December 12, 2018: The objectives were to respond to online ads for prostitution, gather intelligence, and to introduce Source. MN in the project. (Source MN is a non-profit organization with mission to disrupt Human Trafficking through outreach and resources.)
• January 17, 2019: Presentations were provided by Roseville Police Department, The Source MN, and Breaking Free. It was entitled “Stop Human Trafficking – Community Presentation”, and it was held at the Ramsey County Library in Roseville, MN.

Our club has a district grant to improve the facilities at Passageways, safe housing and programming for sex trafficked young men and women. Passageways is operated by The Link. There are 4 parts to our project. We hope to have all things completed by late fall of 2019.

“Passageways Shelter and Housing Program provides emergency shelter beds for youth ages 13-17 and housing for youth ages 16-24 who have been victims of sex trafficking. Passageways is inclusive of all gender identities and can serve parenting youth with one child. The Passageways program also provides a variety of on-site services specific to sexual exploitation that include case management, mental health therapy, education programming, life skills training, a survivor mentor program, health care services and positive youth development activities.”  Passageways is the only place of its kind that services boys and transgender youth as well as females.

The project is in four parts, with each addressing a critical need for the support of the clients served. Each part focuses on the comfort and livability of the facility, supplemental education opportunities for the clients, and physical and emotional healing and well-being of the clients.

The 4-part project will take a minimum of one year to complete. It will be done in phases based on availability of people who will donate services, availability of affordable equipment needed and staffing provided by the school district with which Passageways is affiliated.

Northfield Rotary (District 5960) co-sponsored a panel discussion on Human Trafficking at the St. John’s Lutheran Church (Women of the ELCA) evening program.  Three Rotary panelists participated.

For more information, contact Jean Wakely

Assistant Governor of Area 4

Northfield, MN

jeanwakely@gmail.com

Minneapolis Rotary Chapter #9 would like to make you aware of a movie one of their members saw recently that was “just riveting”.  It was shown as part of the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival.  The movie “The Longest Night” was filmed in Ecuador by director, Gabriela Calvache.  It is a docu-drama about a woman caught in the web of human/sex trafficking.  It is heartbreaking at times, triumphant at times, and frustrating at times.  The Rotary member said the movie was really well done, and at the festival, the director was there for a Question and Answer session.

For a link to the movie and more information, please CLICK HERE.

An event entitled, “Next Steps Minnesota COMMUNITY DIALOG To End Human Trafficking, was held April 5, 2019, at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, MN.  The event was jointly sponsored by A.C.T. United of Carver County MN and the Rotary clubs of the City of Lakes Minneapolis, Chaska, and Waconia, MN.

The event included a welcome address, followed by a round-table dialogue, lunch, and closing remarks. For more information, contact:  connect.actunited@gmail.com.

The Rotary Club of Golden Valley, MN, held an event on January 7, 2019 featuring Sean Levesque, of Love2Hope, entitled “Travels Against Trafficking”.  Sean has spent his entire career teaching and inspiring others through his roles as a teacher, personal coach, master trainer, instructor, and presenter. He is the co-founder (with wife, Kay) and executive director of Love2Hope, a family non-profit bringing awareness to human trafficking across America. He is a trained communicator through the Dale Carnegie Institute and an Ambassador of Hope with Shared Hope International and Stories Foundation. He has worked in the fitness industry for 20+ years and loves to see people healthy, active, and living life on purpose.

Several events were held in the Glenwood, MN, area in the autumn of 2019 that provided information, awareness, and discussion on the topic of ending human trafficking in their local community.

1. “Local Resources and Trends” was held October 2, 2019, from 5:30 to 6:30 PM in Glenwood, MN.
2. “Human Trafficking Panel Discussion” was held October 23, 2019, from 5:30 to 6:30 PM in Starbuck, MN.
3. “John Talks: Men Breaking Free – The Demand for Sex” was held November 13, 2019, from 5:30 to 6:30 PM in Glenwood, MN.

For more information contact Amber at amber.j@someplacesafe.info.  Someplace Safe Pope County (MN) provided over 4,000 services to crime victims and their families over the past year.

The Rotary Club of Edina hosted a presentation and panel discussion on human trafficking on Thursday, September 19, 2019. They held a panel discussion with three experts who have dedicated their lives to stopping and addressing the effects of human trafficking.  They included: Carla Marroquin (Founder and Director of Protect Me Protect); Kenna Dick (Detective with Edina Police); and Heidi Nauman (Executive Dirctor of Super Hero Kids Foundation). The speakers discussed the issues surrounding international human traffickers, as well as what is going on within our Twin Cities community.  The goal was for all of our attendees to walk away with a better understanding of what human trafficking looks like, know what steps are being taken in our community to address the problem, and what we can do individually in our community, schools, and families to stop it. For more information, email the club administrator, Becci Michalski, at rmichalski@EdinaRotary.org.

Eden Prairie Rotary club sponsored pilot training for the Eden Prairie Schools for Super Hero Kids that was funded with a Rotary club grant.  The “Super Hero Kids Foundation” matched Rotary’s grant and then matched it again with a $4,000 donation for pilot training for 4th-6th and 7th & 8th grades!

The Rotary club then held the pilot training for all EP K-8th grade students on Saturday, May 4th, 2019 from 9-10am at Oak Point School, with a minimal fee of $10/family to attend (this helps secure attendance, helps to pay for the Community Ed services and can be waived for families in need).  In this way, families were able to attend and have all of their children trained in personal safety at once and in one hour.

So many children in EP will be safer soon thanks to our Eden Prairie AM Rotary Club generosity and the fantastic team of Rotary Anti-Human Trafficking: Carol Bomben, Jan Eian, Roger Jorgensen and Kevin Kraemer.