As we move into 2021, we wanted to reflect on this past year, and especially express our gratitude to everyone who has joined the fight against human trafficking in Pennsylvania.
Since Greenlight Operation launched in 2018, our mission has remained consistent: Fighting to free the enslaved, together. That means educating and training others to prevent trafficking, collaborating with groups and service providers to transform communities, and serving survivors through holistic care.
Here are several highlights of how we marched toward our goals in 2020.
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Education. We continued our public awareness campaigns by tracking timely issues–such as COVID’s impact on human trafficking, court cases involving trafficking rings, child sex trafficking, and prostitution decriminalization–and offering solutions and ways to help.
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Trainings. COVID-induced gathering restrictions decreased our scheduled trainings; however, we still conducted 16 trainings, six of which were virtual. These opportunities facilitated meaningful relationships from law enforcement to medical personnel to high school students, and positions us to broaden our virtual reach in the future. We also held our annual, in-depth human trafficking seminar with engaged community members.
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Fundraising. We experienced our biggest fundraising successes amidst the uncertainty of a pandemic, demonstrating the immense generosity of our investors. Through increased support from local businesses, clubs, organizations, and individuals, we have raised over 80% of our $500,000 Restoration Home Fund goal. This positions us within reach of one of our primary organizational goals of establishing a home for sex trafficking survivors in the Harrisburg area.
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Events. Over 500 people attended our fourth annual Art Festival. This event transformed from an artist showcase to a large, family-friendly gathering featuring 40 art vendors, garnering media coverage, and raising $10,200 for our Restoration Home Project–tripling the previous festival’s fundraising.
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Advocacy. We engaged with a coalition of advocates for state policy changes and provided timely updates to our followers. These advocates and public officials deserve credit for Act 18 of 2020, which protects children from exploitative marriages. Early this year we also attended a press conference promoting a slate of anti-human trafficking bills, including the Buyer Beware Act, which shortly after became law and increases penalties on traffickers and patrons.
Watch our Art Festival recap here.
Moving into 2021, we aim to continue expanding upon our successes:
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Prevention. We will increase engagement with local community members and partners, providing trainings and learning from experts across the public and private sector. Along those lines, we have already begun planning new events for 2021, including our Art Festival on September 18, 2021. Follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram) and subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date on our most recent analyzes and announcements.
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Collaboration. We will continue working with community partners to fight against harmful policies, such a full decriminalization or legalization of prostitution, and advocate for meaningful solutions. This includes continuing the work of 2020 to grant more rights to survivors and move Pennsylvania closer to the Equality Model, which penalizes exploiters, not victims.
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Restoration. Our current Giving Hope campaign aims to raise the remaining $100,000 of our restoration home goal by January 31, 2021. With this, we aim to purchase our restoration home by the end of 2021.
If you would like a historic perspective of Greenlight Operation, check out our 2018 and 2019 year in review blogs; and if you would like to partner with us in 2021, we would love to hear from you!