This week's #TinaTuesday was eye opening and heartbreaking at the same time, so bear with me as I touch on a subject many of us are completely unaware of and the impact it has on our community and the world.  I met with Executive Director, Sharon of New Day for Children today, and to say I was stunned, saddened, and then uplifted is an understatement.  New Day for Children was started 10 years ago by the First Covenant Church of Oakland who reached out to the Oakland Police to see how they could help with the fast growing sex trafficking of children.  Since their inception, New Day for Children has rescued 75 children (soon to be 77) from sex trafficking.  Most of the children are girls, but there are boys as well.  For every 30 girls there is 1 boy sold into sex trafficking every 2 minutes, which estimates say is over 20 million worldwide (I can't even comprehend the enormity).  Sex trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world, because unlike stealing a phone or a car for a one time payout, sex trafficking is a continual income source for these criminals or what they are now being called "slaveholders."  One of the other statistics Sharon gave me was that there are at least 1 or more children in every middle and high school in the country being sex trafficked, and that if your child has a phone and access to the internet, they are vulnerable.  The average age of the children being taken is 13 years old.  One of the young girls that New Day rescued (she actually saved up her money to take a bus from Southern California to find New Day), was intentionally born for sex trafficking.  She had no record of her birth, no social security number, not even a birth date.  They had to do a complete physical including dental exam just to get an estimate on how old she truly was, which they are estimating is 16 yrs old (I truly can't even imagine).  

Now, let's talk about the positive things that New Day is doing to help these children.  New Day rescues these children and places them in a boarding school in Northern California where the program is tailored to their individual needs.  These programs provide safe and secure living environments for children from California and other states until they are healthy and prepared to live again with their families or guardians or until attaining adulthood. The fully accredited curriculum is tailored to their individual academic level and life goals. These children live in loving, nurturing family like environments where they have a hope of recovering their lost childhoods and building trust. The children and staff eat together and enjoy tasty healthy meals.  Animal therapy is provided for the children to build trust, empathy and responsibility more quickly than might be otherwise possible.  The children have the opportunity and joy of serving others who like themselves, have experienced great challenges in their lives. They move beyond victim mode to seeing themselves as persons of dignity with something valuable and unique to contribute to society.  New Day children also participate in exciting outings for just plain having fun. Swimming, water and snow skiing and visits to the ocean give them the chance to be carefree children free from adult predators and slaveholders. Movies, crafts and game nights, parties and social community building events are ongoing happenings.  The cost for each child who stays at this boarding school is 44,000/year, and that includes all medical and dental as well as extensive specialized therapy (that's actually half of what it costs for children to live in group homes).  So, as you can see even in a dark world there is still light and hope provided to some of these victims in desperate need for both.

New Day has some wonderful advocates in the community as well.  Alameda County D.A, Nancy O'Malley, is one of their leading advocates.  Nancy is currently working with churches in Oakland to find a place to house these children, which will be called "Claire's Place."  Assemblymember, Catherine Baker, just named New Day her "Non-Profit of the Month." 

New Day is entirely privately funded and they don't receive any money from the Government.  One amazing studio called "Sparrow's Nest" is helping New Day in a unique and fun way.  Sparrow's Nest Studios is a "humanitarian mixed media studio. 100% donated to prevent American child sex trafficking and restore rescued survivors."  Sparrow's Nest makes what they call "Mala Bracelets," which for a donation of $35 you can get one of your very own (see pictures).  From that $35 donation, $5 covers the cost of the bracelet and $30 goes to New Day.  Sparrow's Nest has raised $10,000 for New Day, to date.  As you can see, it takes a lot to rescue these children and change their lives forever, so if you would like to buy a bracelet check out their instagram page here https://www.instagram.com/thesparrowsneststudio/?hl=en.  Or, if you would like to help out New Day directly, head on over to their website www.newdayforchildren.com, where you can see their upcoming events, learn more about them than I could fit in my blog, see some testimonials and even donate.  Thank you Sharon, for taking the time to educate me on this heartbreaking issue facing our society today, and all that you and New Day for Children are doing to help as many as you can.  I know you said to me that you would be thrilled if you woke up one day and didn't have a job, because the services you provide were no longer needed since sex trafficking had ended.  We can hope and pray for that day, but for now it looks like you will be employed for quite a while.

P.S.  Sharon used to be a professional Violinist, and now she has her M.B.A (Masters in Begging and Advocacy).  ;-)