Mothers Exploited With Their Children

As many of us were taking our children to pick out pumpkins, enjoy fall hayrides, and participated in trick-or-treating, some parents were reflecting on the normalcy that is parenting outside of exploitation.

One of the big gaps we see are resources and programs that are able to serve women with their children after they leave their trafficking situation. We know that there are a lot of other parents who are not female identifying or men who are survivors who have their children. But specific for this webinar, just because that was the services that are usually available we are speaking primarily about mothers who have been exploited and their children.

One of our large partner programs recently reported that 60% of the women in their 8 aftercare homes are mothers and yet, finding placement for a woman with her child remains difficult. While housing options for women who have experienced trafficking with their children are scarce, we are honored to partner with many different organizations that have committed themselves to filling this gap. We facilitated a conversation among these organizations around the importance of serving this population and how they have addressed the challenges that come with it.

About the Panelists:

Angelica Zuniga

Angelica is a survivor leader, contracted through the Department of Human Services. She provides supportive services to high risk and adjudicated youth. Angela sits on the CEC Advisory Board with the National Center for Youth Law. She's a member of the steering committee of the Coalition Against Human Trafficking, Curry County. She facilitates, she co-facilitate awareness trainings with Common Spirit, dignity.

Angelica believes in recovery with the collaboration of other organizations that victims can turn into victors. She's collaborated with other organizations, safe houses and recovery programs since 2013. She's overseen Twilight Treasures whose focus is to reach individuals still active in the commercial sex industry.

And in 2021, Angelica became CEO of Redeemed Home, a local safe house in Kern County where they house women 18 and older, coming out of the commercial sex industry.

McKenzie Huska

McKenzie currently serves as the Marissa's Housing Project manager for Call to Freedom in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She advocates for women and their children, and that comes from her previous experience as a senior parole agent and field training officer in South Dakota, directly supervising adult women and men released from prison and in the correction systems that had slipped through.

After becoming a mother of two, that passion grew into an intense calling to directly impact women and children suffering at the hands of our systems. I absolutely adore the program that McKenzie oversees, and they are just an incredible incredible people.

Suzanne Baker Brown

Suzanne co-founded and is currently serving as CEO of Stepping Stones Network. Her passion is to help people find wholeness in life, health, spirit, body and soul so that they can step into the life they were created to live. Her background includes corporate leadership, management consulting, not for profit board experience, and extensive work in women's ministry.Suzanne has also been an advocate for women and women's issues in all of those con contexts.

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