Shield North Carolina was established in 2017 as an organization determined to end human trafficking. Shield North Carolina, specifically, was created to educate communities in North Carolina about the dangers and signs of human trafficking. Shield NC has been a driving force in uniting communities to actively protect their citizens. During these efforts, Shield has also successfully fought for legislation to resource survivors.
The amazing team at Shield NC strongly believes ending human trafficking begins with everyone doing their part to shield their community. In order to do this Shield NC’s goal is to equip individuals to know the signs they may see during an ordinary day and to know how to best respond. Shield NC maintains this goal by being committed to identifying and bridging the gaps between existing support systems and the needs of human trafficking survivors.
The team of professionals at Shield NC is dedicated to implementing their goal of protecting communities against the dangers of human trafficking by influencing policy and legislation change at the local, state, and federal levels. Shield NC also puts forth amazing efforts by partnering with companies to implement strategies to establish a safe working environment for hiring survivors of human trafficking.
Shield NC's Local Impact:
A few years ago Shield NC partnered with the Apex Police Department in their Service Groups and Faith Alliance effort. In this program, NC Shield and the Apex Police Department, bring together the service groups and faith leaders of our community, in the hopes of a collaborative effort to keep our community safe against human trafficking. The SGFA partners to bring in speakers to address issues facing vulnerable populations during their monthly gatherings. Some members of the Alliance are Town Council members, faith leaders, Wake County government employees, community group leaders, law enforcement officers, and area service providers.
Several collaborations have occurred organically at these meetings as these groups work together to address community-specific concerns. Topics that have recently been discussed include Apex’s increasing housing costs, the rise of domestic violence, and ways to support local foster families.
Take a look at what Shield NC's Operations Specialist, Niki Miller, said about the SGFA and Shield NC's missions:
"As an anti-human trafficking organization, one of the pillars of our mission is prevention. A key element to prevent trafficking is to reduce vulnerabilities such as food or housing insecurity, physical or sexual abuse, experiences of trauma, substance addiction and being part of the foster care system. Traffickers will prey on these vulnerabilities by befriending, manipulating and exploiting victims. Any organization or church that assists individuals to overcome vulnerabilities is helping combat trafficking."
- Niki Miller, Operations Specialist at Shield NC
Putting in Our Helping Hand:
Last year was our first year collaborating with Shield NC by donating some items to their annual gala, that Shield NC holds in Apex! After donating the items, we also got to attend the gala itself and were able to see the amazing donations and items put up for auction. All of the proceeds from the auction went to helping Shield NC protect our community against human trafficking.
This year, we again decided to donate items to be auctioned at the gala which will be held at The Evermore Farms in Apex on May 21st! We believe that the impact Shield NC has on our community and their work in protecting our community is tremendous and has our full support.
If you are unable to attend the gala and the auction on the 21st, you can join in on the fun of the auction online, here!
If you would like to make a donation to help Shield NC's cause, you can do so here.
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This organization is one of our sesquicentennial stories because we learned about the organization through individuals & agencies in the Apex Community. In fact, Apex Police Department helped partner to create the Service Groups and Faith Alliance. For more sesquicentennial stories follow here.
Complied by Emily Freed
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