Rising International Launches Its Safe And Sound Program At Eighth Annual Hands Of Hope Benefit In

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - Sept. 10, 2015 - PRLog -- Special Keynote Presentation: What Traffickers Don’t Want Our Community To Know

On Friday, September 25, 2015, Rising International will hold its 8th annual fundraising luncheon event, Hands of Hope, at the Hyatt Regency in Monterey, California. The event will highlight the launch of Safe and Sound, a local human trafficking prevention and economic development program.  It’s designed to train foster youth to earn an income making jewelry, and to teach them to recognize signs of potential exploitation.

Human trafficking occurs when criminals use force, fraud or coercion to exploit vulnerable people through labor & the sex trades.  The Polaris Project, one of the largest anti-trafficking organizations in the US, released a report (http://www.polarisproject.org/storage/child-trafficking-child-welfare.pdf) in June of this year presenting strong evidence. Children linked to social services in the United States, such as foster care, are a prime target for exploiters. It’s this population that the Safe and Sound program aims to assist.

The event’s keynote speaker, Catie Hart, has developed a special curriculum to keep Rising International’s local jewelry makers Safe and Sound from traffickers. Ms. Hart was a victim of sex trafficking for seven years throughout California. After escaping her exploiter in 2006, she went on to earn her BA in sociology from UC Berkeley.  Since then, she has been working with the Special Victims Unit Human Trafficking Division at the San Francisco Police Department, consults for various anti-trafficking organizations, and more recently, has trained 2,000 social workers and community partners throughout Northern California. She draws her expertise from all lenses with which she has engaged: as a victim, through law enforcement and now through social welfare. Ms. Hart’s event presentation will uncover the strategies that allow sex traffickers and pimps to have power over their victims.

In addition to Ms. Hart, human trafficking survivor Deborah Pembrook will also speak at the event. Ms. Pembrook is the Chair of the newly revived Coalition to End Human Trafficking in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. The Coalition is a collaboration of over 80 individuals from social services, legal outreach, law enforcement, and non-governmental organizations that are all working together to stop human trafficking on the California Central Coast. Initially formed by two catholic nuns in 2007, the Coalition was unable to sustain itself when the nuns moved out of the area in 2010. Rising International’s founder, Carmel Jud, spearheaded the revival of the Coalition in 2014.

“Rising International is successfully changing the lives of women who’ve survived war and abuse in high-risk places around the world,” said Carmel Jud.  “When I discovered how prevalent human trafficking is in the bay area, I knew we could apply our successful global tactics at the local level.”

The Safe & Sound flagship product is a trafficking awareness bracelet made of safety pins. Much like the cancer awareness bracelets made popular by the Livestrong Foundation, the Safe & Sound bracelet will bring vital attention to the trafficking of foster youth. But unlike other awareness bracelets, this one will be made by the very population that could most use the entrepreneurial training, support, and economic opportunity to dramatically improve their lives.

For the last several years, Rising International has been supporting human trafficking survivors’ economic empowerment on a global scale. The non-profit organization sells fair trade jewelry and other handcrafted products made by trafficking survivors in India and Nepal. Sales take place primarily at home parties and at corporate gatherings in the US. The bracelet will be Rising International’s first American made product, and will be debuted at the September 25^th event in a global fair trade marketplace.

The 8^th Annual Hands of Hope event is expected to draw more than 300 business executives, law enforcement, celebrities, philanthropists, and community leaders from the Central Coast and San Francisco Bay Area. The event’s presenting sponsor is Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Other sponsors include LinkedIn and Dawns Dream Winery.

Event Particulars:

September 25, 2015 at the Hyatt Regency, 1 Old Golf Course Road, Monterey, CA 93940

11:00 am -- Global Fair Trade Market Place and Wine Reception

12:00 pm-- Lunch and Program

1:15pm  -- Global Fair Trade Marketplace Continues

2:00pm -- VIP After Event

General Admission $65 (meal cost is $35, $30 is your tax deductible donation)

VIP Admission $125 (meal cost is $35, $90 is tax deductible donation)

Tickets and Sponsorship: https://risinginternational.worldsecuresystems.com/handso...

Or call 831-429-RISE (7473)

Checks: make payable to Rising International, and mail to:

300 Potrero Street, Santa Cruz, 95060

About Rising International

Founded in 2002, Rising International is the first non-profit organization to use the home party business model to alleviate poverty both locally and globally—think Avon or Tupperware for a social cause. The organization searches the globe for the world’s most forgotten women, and enables them to change their destinies by selling their handmade boutique quality products at Rising Home and Corporate Events in the United States.  In addition, Rising International trains women and teens, many under-employed, in the United States to run their own Rising Home Party businesses. They earn an income selling crafts made by survivors of war, poverty and human trafficking. It’s a total win-win: The more the local entrepreneurs prosper, the more they change the world. The organization has won several awards including most recently “The Activating Empathy Award” sponsored by Ashoka Changemakers and The Packard Foundation.

About Safe and Sound

The Safe and Sound program was made possible by a grant from the social networking service, Linkedin, along with donated celebrity experiences from the following Central Coast celebrities:  actor Adam Scott, American Idol contestant James Durbin, the Mayor of Santa Cruz, and KPIG radio announcer Laurie Roberts.