GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT – Hope For Justice

Hope for Justice is an organization that’s mission is to end human trafficking and slavery. It provides education; trains professionals; investigates human trafficking crimes; advocates for victims; and provides quality restoration and reintegration services. The organization is located in Nashville and Cambodia. The U.S. program focuses on training healthcare workers, juvenile detention officers and child protective services to recognize the signs of human trafficking.The program in Cambodia focuses on restorative care for girls who were rescued from human trafficking. It’s a long-term, trauma-informed residential treatment program. The services provided help these girls themselves with job training, education and the tools to discover their self-worth.

Last year, Circle of Sisterhood provided a $5,000 grant to Hope for Justice to fund a teacher’s salary at the Shine Career School and two computers for the Lighthouse Assessment Center. The Shine Career School understands that the girls missed critical years of education and development and therefore assesses each girl to accommodate her education level. The teacher funded by the grant teaches the girls both Khmer and English language, computer skills and art education. Later in the program, the girls receive vocational training so they can earn regular wages and break the cycle of oppression.

Hope for Justice has multiple programs and initiatives to achieve their end goal of stopping human trafficking. The Lighthouse Assessment Center serves as a short-term shelter for female victims of human trafficking. The center prepares and provides women services to transition to long-term shelters. The Shine Career school teaches the women core subjects as well as vocational skills. Their experiences in the school provide these girls a foundation to establish and achieve their dreams.

Circle of Sisterhood is proud to support an organization whose mission it is to end human trafficking in our generation.

This blog post was written by Jessica Evans, a digital journalist living in New York City and member of the Circle of Sisterhood writing team. She graduated from the University of Maryland College Park in 2015 and is a proud sister of Alpha Delta Pi. Interested in joining our writing team or sharing your Circle of Sisterhood story? Contact Mia McCurdy at blog@circleofsisterhood.org