Continued Support and Awareness for victims and survivors of sexual exploitation in Grey-Bruce

by Amanda Preston

On September 12th, CARE Project Grey-Bruce attended the very first march of it's kind in our community, organized by Jessica Ferretti to raise awareness of and see an end to human trafficking in our communities and cities across this country. Her hard work is commended because this type of awareness needs to continue because far too many people still believe that human trafficking doesn't happen here.

But the reality is that sexual trafficking can happen anywhere, to anyone and our community is certainly not immune to this ever-growing issue. We need to continue to raise awareness and educate each other to identify risk factors, take steps to keep our neighbourhoods safe, and recognize when trafficking is happening around us.

As we do so, it is vital that we also continue to support the agencies and services in our communities that provide help and assistance to victims and survivors of this type of exploitation.

We know that emergency shelter is one of the most requested referrals survivors seek when reaching out for help when in crisis situations. A women or child's first moments after fleeing an unsafe environment can be scary and overwhelming.

So, we decided to create a special project called the CARE Package Project in support of The Women's Centre Grey Bruce Inc. The purpose of this project is to provide essential care package donations to our shelter for women and children that are escaping all types of violence and abuse.

As we are a survivor-founded project, we understand the importance of needing a safe haven, and our shelter provides just that. We believe that care packages can help those in process to feel supported, secure and believed.

Women and children often flee unsafe situations with only the clothes on their back, and that is why our shelter needs people like me and you to continue to help. Let's do our part for and with them!

Please see our event page for more information or visit CARE Package Project, as well as visiting our newly launched Facebook site @ CARE Project Grey-Bruce.

We will be continuing to collect donations until Thanksgiving weekend, upon which time we would like to deliver the care bags as an expression of our thanks to our local shelter for helping those in need. Thank you to the #TheLilacProject for your support as well in this endeavour. Thank you to everyone that has made a contribution so far. You are helping to make a difference in this community.

Photo Credits with permission: watermarked photo taken by Ashley Winters Photography for Save the Children: End Human Trafficking March, remaining photos taken by Founder of CARE Project Grey-Bruce