One of the most frequent questions that people have after learning about sex trafficking worldwide and locally is “What can I do?”.  For those who are not actively involved on the ‘front lines’ in justice and aftercare, there can often feel as if small efforts may be inadequate in the fight. However, raising awareness within our communities, fighting for survivor-centered advocacy, and raising funds to support organizations providing aftercare are deeply important actions that anyone can take in order to fight trafficking.
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There have been many people who have become passionate about ending trafficking that began with the same question. Upon some thought and soul searching, they realized that they can use their gifts and talents in order to make a different right where they are. Two teenagers in particular stand out in their efforts to raise awareness of the issue and to help financially support organizations.

The Rescue Run
In June 2015, a recent high school graduate, Hannah Redders, put upon herself the challenge to run across the state of Wisconsin in order to raise awareness about sex trafficking within our state and to raise funds for Exploit No More’s aftercare residential program. As she ran for 10 days from Superior to Milwaukee, Hannah had the support of family and friends who joined her for sections of her trek, running at least 20 miles per day. In addition to those who physically supported and encouraged her along the way, financial sponsorships and donations poured in, raising nearly $20,000 in order to provide aftercare for Wisconsin’s trafficking survivors.
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Loose Change to Loosen Chains
In 2003, a twelve year old boy named Zach Hunter first learned about modern day slavery around the world. Through his anger about the issue and his passion to help, he started Loose Change to Loosen Chains. While raising awareness and sharing stories of people who were entrapped in slavery, he collected any loose change that people had in their pockets, purses, or wallets to donate to abolitionist organizations such as Free the Slaves and International Justice Mission. His method of raising awareness and collecting change in little yellow cups spread, with students all throughout the country raising money to help end slavery.

Today, more than a decade later, Zach still speaks and writes about slavery, having written books including Be the Change: Your Guide to Freeing Slaves and Changing the World, Generation Change: Roll up your Sleeves and Change the World, and Lose your Cool: Discovering a Passion that Changes You and the World.

Even just the smallest steps can make a large difference in your community to fight trafficking. While knowledge about trafficking is become more wide-spread, there are still many people who do not know that sex trafficking happens within their own neighborhood. Just by having a simple conversation, by throwing a party where you share about the issue, or by hosting a movie showing or a book club, a great deal of effort is being put forth in assisting in the fight.

​Conversations about sex trafficking – whether they be a few minutes or a few hours presentation – often leave people with a sense of hopelessness and despair. With so much information to absorb, it can be difficult to move past the darkness to see the hope and light for survivors of trafficking. Women and men who are recovered and escape from the life have a long journey of healing and restoration that will continue long into their lives. However as many walk the path to becoming healthy again, they find that their passions now lie with helping others who have been victimized and exploited. Their stories provide the hope, light, and inspiration that is needed in order to see how these incredible women are being restored.

January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month and for this month, we will be highlighting a few of the stories of hope from survivors around the United States. These profiles are of well-known survivors who are working in the United States to support victims and survivors in their own cities and nation-wide. Please check out their organizations and ministries to learn more about how they work daily to end human trafficking. ​​

Brenda Myers-Powell
Dreamcatcher Foundation

A survivor of sexual, physical, and mental abuse, as well as of sex trafficking, Brenda Myers-Powell founded the Dreamcatcher Foundation, an organization working to bring education, empowerment, and active prevention to young at-risk girls in the city of Chicago.

Brenda fell victim to trafficking after running away from an abusive home at the age of 14. After 25 years in the life, Brenda now uses her experiences to mentor and relate to girls in similar situations as her own. The Dreamcatcher Foundation provides services including healing and recovery groups; physical, emotional, and psychological health services; personal development; and educational services.
Brenda was recently featured in Dreamcatcher, a documentary that focuses on prostitution and sex trafficking in Chicago and the work that The Dreamcatcher Foundation is doing to prevent exploitation and support victims.

Brenda Myers-Powell is just one of hundreds of survivor advocates working to use her own experiences in order to help others in their healing journey. Exploit No More has been blessed to have a number of survivors in the Milwaukee community who share this same desire. While the healing journey continues, our survivor advocates and volunteers have reached the point in their journey that they have a passion to help other girls and women who have been victimized and exploited. Without survivor-led mentorship and leadership in the fight to end sex trafficking, organizations are at a huge disadvantage and leave the survivors they are attempting to help at a loss. Survivors who have a passion to help others who were victimized provide a space for understanding, vulnerability in sharing stories, and healing.

​Conversations about sex trafficking – whether they be a few minutes or a few hours presentation – often leave people with a sense of hopelessness and despair. With so much information to absorb, it can be difficult to move past the darkness to see the hope and light for survivors of trafficking. Women and men who are recovered and escape from the life have a long journey of healing and restoration that will continue long into their lives. However as many walk the path to becoming healthy again, they find that their passions now lie with helping others who have been victimized and exploited. Their stories provide the hope, light, and inspiration that is needed in order to see how these incredible women are being restored.

January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month and for this month, we will be highlighting a few of the stories of hope from survivors around the United States. These profiles are of well-known survivors who are working in the United States to support victims and survivors in their own cities and nation-wide. Please check out their organizations and ministries to learn more about how they work daily to end human trafficking. ​

Rebecca Bender
Rebecca Bender Initiative (RBI)
Rebecca Bender is a survivor of domestic sex trafficking, a speaker, advocate, and author of her memoir and book for survivors, Roadmap to Redemption.

She currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and four children while running a ministry that she started focused on raising awareness about sex trafficking and training survivor-leaders around the nation.

RBI also works in consulting NGOs and non-profit organizations in their work with survivors and in victim-centered advocacy efforts.

Rebecca Bender is just one of hundreds of survivor advocates working to use her own experiences in order to help others in their healing journey. Exploit No More has been blessed to have a number of survivors in the Milwaukee community who share this same desire. While the healing journey continues, our survivor advocates and volunteers have reached the point in their journey that they have a passion to help other girls and women who have been victimized and exploited. Without survivor-led mentorship and leadership in the fight to end sex trafficking, organizations are at a huge disadvantage and leave the survivors they are attempting to help at a loss. Survivors who have a passion to help others who were victimized provide a space for understanding, vulnerability in sharing stories, and healing.

​Conversations about sex trafficking – whether they be a few minutes or a few hours presentation – often leave people with a sense of hopelessness and despair. With so much information to absorb, it can be difficult to move past the darkness to see the hope and light for survivors of trafficking. Women and men who are recovered and escape from the life have a long journey of healing and restoration that will continue long into their lives. However as many walk the path to becoming healthy again, they find that their passions now lie with helping others who have been victimized and exploited. Their stories provide the hope, light, and inspiration that is needed in order to see how these incredible women are being restored.

January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month and for this month, we will be highlighting a few of the stories of hope from survivors around the United States. These profiles are of well-known survivors who are working in the United States to support victims and survivors in their own cities and nation-wide. Please check out their organizations and ministries to learn more about how they work daily to end human trafficking. 

​Brooke Axtell
Allies Against Slavery and Survivor Healing and Empowerment (S.H.E.)

Brooke Axtell became the face of a survivor of domestic violence at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, where she performed a piece of spoken word that she had written about her own experience.  While Brooke’s performance has been viewed and shared by thousands since the Grammy’s, her advocacy work began prior to that after she escaped the abusive relationship she found herself in.

Brooke, also a survivor of child domestic sex trafficking at the age of seven years old, lives and works in Texas with Allies Against Slavery as their Director of Communications, as well as founded a healing community specifically for sex trafficking and sexual abuse survivors called Survivor Healings and Empowerment (S.H.E.).

She speaks across the nation about domestic sex trafficking, sharing her story and her poems to spread awareness and grow passion in others. The staff of Exploit No More had the opportunity to meet and talk with Brooke in 2015 as she recently spoke to students at Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

Brooke Axtell is just one of hundreds of survivor advocates working to use her own experiences in order to help others in their healing journey. Exploit No More has been blessed to have a number of survivors in the Milwaukee community who share this same desire. While the healing journey continues, our survivor advocates and volunteers have reached the point in their journey that they have a passion to help other girls and women who have been victimized and exploited. Without survivor-led mentorship and leadership in the fight to end sex trafficking, organizations are at a huge disadvantage and leave the survivors they are attempting to help at a loss. Survivors who have a passion to help others who were victimized provide a space for understanding, vulnerability in sharing stories, and healing.