Wichita is ranked #…
Wichita is a hub…
Wichita is known for…
These are things we hear when it comes to sex trafficking in our city. Let’s talk about what we know to be true when it comes to this issue and what that means for Wichita.
We have followed the work of INK 180 for several years and for the past couple we’ve talked about getting Chris Baker here to share their story with the Wichita community. Friday, January 22nd we finally made it happen and Chris spoke to a packed house at Gracepoint Church, one of our longterm community partners.
We’re excited to kick off a new year and a new semester with a great group of interns. They’ll be helping with everything from events to data entry to donations to projects not even dreamed up yet!
Welcome to the team Sara, Rula & Erika- it’s going to be a great semester!
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We’ll be introducing our spring interns, sharing some insights and highlighting our direct service partners so you can get to know them better.
Be sure to bookmark or add us to your feed reader- and stay tuned!
Hey all-
Meet Heather James, our 2014 Summer Intern! Heather is a student at Newman University, who graduates this year! She is active at Audacity Church, where she learned about ICT SOS. Heather loves dogs and volunteers at the Kansas Humane Society. She is still deciding what she wants to be when she grows up but would love to join her city in the fight against human trafficking.
I can tell you this- Heather is already running circles around me! She’s been organizing our shirt inventory and updating our online store (which was SADLY out of date!), working on some data entry projects and researching a few other things for us. At LEAST once a day I get a text or email asking, “What’s next?”
Welcome to the team Heather- we’re so glad to have you!
I have seen statistics stating that as high as 80% of trafficked youth have been in the child welfare system. To me, this says one thing: we need to do a better job of supporting foster agencies, foster parents and foster youth.
Wow!
March 13, 2011 the Wichita Eagle published a story about a trafficking case here in our city that involved a 13 year old victim. That article changed my life and was the catalyst for ICT S.O.S. becoming the organization that it is today.
We are very excited to have Lisa Brown joining our team this fall semester as a practicum student from Wichita State University! Here are a few words from Lisa:
I graduated from Derby High School in 2008 and I am studying Health Services Management and Community Development at WSU. I graduate in December. I’ve worked at the McConnell Child Development Center for the last five years and its the best job ever. I love working with children and helping people. I did a small service learning project with you guys last fall and really enjoyed it and thought that ICT S.O.S. would be a good site to complete my practicum at. I also look forward to working with you guys this next semester and can’t wait to learn more about the organization.
Lisa will be helping with the Race for Freedom, Rock the Market and several new projects we have up our sleeves. She will also be giving some feedback and suggestions on how we can make ICT S.O.S. even better! We’re excited to have her on the team and looking forward to getting to work!!
I woke up angry this morning.
How does someone “throw away” a kid? When did it become ok to let “The System” raise our children? And why do so many of them fall through the cracks?
I keep hearing people say, “The System is broken.” Yep, sure is. Guess why? Because it’s run by broken people in a broken world. There isn’t a perfect system for raising children who are given up, taken from drug-addicted parents, or removed from abusive homes. There isn’t a perfect system for raising kids in a loving home with two doting parents, a dog and a white picket fence. This world isn’t perfect.
So whose fault is it? Whose responsibility is it to fix “The System”?
It’s yours. And mine.
A little over two years ago there was a human trafficking case profiled in the Wichita Eagle. The case involved a 13 year old victim. Her story was the catalyst for ICT S.O.S.. Today her story helped to change the laws in our state. Written and verbal testimony given in support of this bill cited her case along with other recent cases and research provided by local and national expert, Dr. Karen Countryman-Roswurm.
The Child Advocacy Center, Wichita Children’s Home, DCF, Attorney General and District Attorney’s offices all provided support for the bill along with others, including ICT S.O.S..
The bill passed the House today with a vote of 120-0 in its favor. Next, it will move on to the Governor for his signature.
This is not the end but a great step in the right direction. There is so much more work to be done but so many exciting things on the horizon. The Child Advocacy Center is looking to expand their services to victims, WSU will launch a new institute to combat this issue through research and education and our community efforts will continue to grow with this year’s conference, Race 4 Freedom 5k and Rock the Market concert.
Thank you for writing letters, calling and emailing your legislators. Thank you for spreading the word and mostly, thank you for caring.
Join us this Tuesday April 9th for our monthly meeting. We’ll have thank you cards to fill out for our Representatives as well as a letter to Governor Brownback urging him to sign this bill into law. We meet at 6pm at Mead’s Corner on the second floor. More info HERE.
Let’s take this victory in and keep on fighting!
