As a freedom fighter in Portland, I’ve felt like a lone ranger. My group, Stop Child Trafficking Now (SCTNow), has many partners, but none I considered true allies here in Portland…until recently. Many share the common goal of eliminating the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). I never considered how I could truly partner with any of them until Connect PDX was formed. Dione Katelhut of the Junior League of Portland made sure I was invited, and what an honor it was. Over 70 organizations gathered to do exactly what was intended: CONNECT.
Chelan shares her experience and connects with others, at the 2 day Collective Impact workshop
As a freedom fighter in Portland, I’ve felt like a lone ranger. My group, Stop Child Trafficking Now (SCTNow), has many partners, but none I considered true allies here in Portland…until recently. Many share the common goal of eliminating the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). I never considered how I could truly partner with any of them until Connect PDX was formed. Dione Katelhut of the Junior League of Portland made sure I was invited, and what an honor it was. Over 70 organizations gathered to do exactly what was intended: CONNECT.
We didn’t really know what to expect beyond that simple concept of connecting, but Collective Impact showed us how success can come from working together. They help diverse organizations come together to solve a complex social problem, such as sex trafficking of children.
Several freedom-fighters (Gary Tribbett, from Compassion Connect, calls them “Super Heroes”) shared with me about their roles in the solution as well as their hopes for Connect PDX:
Carolyn Quartier, Board Chair Member for Door to Grace
“I really believe, strongly, how collaborative we need to be with our city. We benefit each other by combining our gifts to help fight this issue. What an amazing group of people, each tackling a different area. I always think of it as a continuum of care. We need: laws changed, resources at our disposal and people caring for the survivors as well as churches wrapping around families and ministering to them. We require preventative people like those at The Reality Project who are actually talking with teenagers, helping them. Love that! That wonderful collaboration will make an impact.”
Luke Cirillo, Founder of The Reality Project funded by the Pregnancy Resource Center
“I would really like to have a better perspective on how I can be effective on the prevention side. I have had girls come up to me with friends in that world of ‘prostitution,’ and I want to know what the best strategy is for me to be able to intervene. I want to help prevent it from happening.”
In his work within The Reality Project, Luke emphasizes the importance of education. “We talk about sexual exploitation and sex trafficking in the context of our broader curriculum of sexual risk avoidance and healthy relationships. Our two presenters speak in about 25-35 high schools. We’ve also been trying to do a better job engaging the church and youth organizations, so we developed a six-hour parent forum to talk with parents about sexuality and parent relationships.”
Jennifer Unangst, Founder of The House of En Gedi, a Corvallis-based home, in it’s beginning stages, which will seek to provide long term counseling and rehabilitation to survivors of human sex trafficking over the age of 18.
When questioned about what Connect PDX can do for her, Jennifer Unangst, a strong and beautiful survivor of sexual abuse, indicated she hopes to “meet (with) other organizations so that we can all work together. This is a great idea. We can’t do this individually. It’s about meeting others and helping each other.”
Day 2, Connect PDX
We all had the privilege of hearing from a panel of key players in the fight against child sexual exploitation: Diane McKeel, Joslyn Baker, Mike Geiger, Erin Ellis, Linda Smith and Jes Richardson. To gain some understanding on what they shared, you may want to watch these video clips highlighting each speaker at various points: Panel pt.1 andPanel, pt.2.
After the panel discussion, everyone shuffled off to one of six assigned and facilitated breakout groups for the ultimate brainstorming. These groups helped us to: define the problem, nail down what’s already being done, identify the missing pieces, recognize our partners and ascertain possible future organizational links with our own.
When all was said and done, a sense of satisfaction invaded the room. Linda Smith and I left at the very end of the session. I asked what encouraged her about Connect PDX. Her reply should put a smile on the face of all who attended and organized this empowering event. She also graciously answered my question about what Shared Hope was doing to end the demand for children as sexual commodities.
Linda Smith, Founder of Shared Hope International
“I was encouraged by all the relationships that were already built…and how anxious they were to work more strongly and more deliberately together. Two years ago, there wouldn’t have been this number of people in the room, much less people who want to collaborate.”
With respect to ending the demand side of trafficking, Linda elaborated, “I believe we can make it so dangerous for a man to buy commercial sex that it will not be profitable for another man or woman to sell a child and that will stop demand to some extent. There will always be some people who will go out of their way to victimize someone else. But once we raise the cost – the penalty in jail, public humiliation and all the things that could make a person think twice – I believe a lot of people won’t buy.”
“Our goal is to have a law strong enough in two years, in every state, for a buyer, that would make him a sexual predator with serious penalties and considered a part of the trafficking crime. We want every state to be safe for everybody’s child. Nobody’s daughter should be up for sale in any state, in any community, in any town.”
My Take
This is one crucial piece to the complex puzzle we all have the responsibility to solve. Thanks to Abolition Now and The Junior League of Portland, I have a clearer understanding of who is doing what and who I can lock arms with to impact Portland for the sake of these precious little ones. As a result of Connect PDX, I’ve already had two ladies come to my house from “A Village For One” to talk about common goals and experiences.
I no longer feel like a lone ranger. I feel hope for Portland. As long as we aren’t sweeping this issue under a societal rug, as long as we’re talking about the tough stuff openly and as long as we’re learning from each other by working closely together with an extra measure of grace, there IS hope. As long as we continue to Connect PDX, children and their families can have hope, too.
