Vision
By partnering with existing programs, these support meetings will contribute to the challenges faced by survivors in a new day-to-day life. Some have trouble keeping a job or covering rent or finding the support they need to stand on their own. By participating, survivors can anonymously share with, and encourage each other. Similar to Alcoholics Anonymous sharing meetings, each group can become the family support system the individuals lack at home so that they can fully recover and function within their communities. Representatives from these programs and a local medical clinic are requesting meeting schedules so they can refer survivors to services that will help contribute to their full recovery as productive members of society.
Problem
Human trafficking is making some sick and twisted individuals very wealthy through the selling of people into modern day slavery! Unfortunately, this is a global issue that is in need of ACTION from every nation! In Libya, migrant men are grabbed off the streets as they travel to seek asylum in Europe and are sold into slavery for as much as $400 US dollars! Traffickers don’t care about gender or age since there is a huge market for selling laborers, servants, and sex slaves as young as 3 years old! Being so close to the Mexican border, human trafficking is a huge problem here in San Diego and we have some of the best restoration programs in the country for helping these victims.
Your Solution
Kim’s HTS Support Meetings will partner up with restoration programs to offer the support survivors need being restored. This partnership works both directions: 1) survivors can be referred to the meetings when they contact restorative services they no longer qualify to receive; and 2) victims who attend one of our meetings in need of rescue will be referred to the rescue/restoration programs so they can get the help they need.
By sharing their experiences and their trials or errors in addressing new challenges, survivors will begin to create a bond of trust that will support their growing strength as individuals. It is through their group relationship that they will stand by each other with more determination to succeed than friends or family members are able to do. Over time, more survivors will join in, and the others will be better quipped to welcome the “pups” to the “litter” for a smoother transition into the group.
Project Budget
The current budget is small but will grow as the support meetings increase in number. As the Incorporator and Board President, the only money budgeted for me is to join the Board members in attending human trafficking seminars, events, gatherings, and workshops for updating our information, continuing our training, and networking with politicians and other programs. Our budget includes a $2,000/month starting salary for each the Program Director and Property Manager until such time as more funding is available to raise their salaries to amount justified by their positions. Volunteers will monitor the meetings and we will cover approximately $30/meeting for expenses of coffee and snacks available to meetings participants. The only other expenses include our domain name, website, e-mail addresses for the three of us at the website, a special business phone number through the website that forwards calls during business hours to our Program Director billed yearly. I have a dedicated cell phone that is $30/month plus tax. We estimate our monthly expenses are $6-7,000 to cover all of these costs, plus any unforeseen expenses.
Your Team
There are currently three Board members who make-up the organization Kim’s HTS Support Meetings, Incorporated.
Dr. Kim Yarbrough, D.M., Incorporator and Board President, is qualified to address the need to support survivors of human trafficking through a combination of life experiences and formal education in business management. She has a unique perspective of the mental and emotional condition of survivors, having been abused for decades in her own life, and because of that she has a deep passion to help with shortening the length of time needed for their full recovery. As for her qualifications in management, she has more than a decade of management experience in various industries, along with a BSBA in CIS, a BSBA in Project Management, a MBA in Operations Management, a Master’s in Construction Management, and a Doctorate of Management in Environmental and Social Sustainability.
Kalina O’Connor is our Program Director/Board Secretary for our organization. Kalina also has a unique background that contributes to her qualifications for managing this program. While human trafficking victims are abused by their captors, many of them also have issues with substance abuse as a coping mechanism. Like Kim, she has experienced an abuse, and has 13 years as a sober addict so she understands the challenges that people face when they become addicts, and when they clear their systems to become sober. She also has many years of experience running substance abuse programs and their support meetings. Part of her duties included living at the sober living facility for days at a time, so her participation in their treatment involved more than daily or weekly meetings.
Tod Schaiterer is our Property Manager/Board Treasurer for our organization. Tod has almost 30 years of experience managing construction companies, is a licensed General Contractor, and has 30 years of experience working in construction doing high-rise steel work, fireplace installments, general labor that included pouring foundations, framing, roofing, etc. and property inspection. He is more than qualified to manage the company and perform the required duties of property inspections and rental management. His passion to help others is why he wants to use his talents to run this non-profit with us.
How Others Can Help
There are four actions that people can take to help fight against human trafficking by supporting our program.
- Spread the word! Tell everyone you know about the suffering of the human trafficking victims and the need to help them re-adjust to life back in society once they have been rescued and restored to their families. You can also post our information on all of your social media accounts and encourage your contacts to share.
- Visit our website at https://htsmeetings.org for more information about us and what we are doing.
- Volunteer to hold support meetings in your local libraries for survivors who live in your communities to offer them an opportunity to rebuild the trust, faith, and confidence that they have lost.
- Donate to the cause. We are very aware of the many scams running crazy in today’s society, and because I am a disabled senior I have been a target for many of them. This is why it is an extremely sensitive topic for me to ask people for money. Unfortunately, it costs money to offer these services, even if they are available for free. So please, the more donations we receive, the more meetings we can offer, and the more survivors we can help make that adjustment from captivity to freedom. To show our appreciation for donations made to our crowdfunding campaign, please review our list of rewards provided in the Rewards section of this website. We are extremely grateful for all donations made in support of our cause.