Campaign Against Human Trafficking And Domestic Violence Awards Scholarships To …

The Campaign Against Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence-Southshore's (CAHT) mission is to support the fight against human trafficking and related domestic violence issues by providing educational awareness and prevention activities to schools and the community at large.

The 11-year nonprofit works with multicultural groups in providing short-term housing and other basic needs to families as well as mentoring, scholarships and referral services. They also donate needed funding and/or tangible items to at-risk youth, law enforcement, regional anti-human trafficking nonprofits, rehabilitation homes and centers.

This past April, CAHT funded seven $1000 scholarships at East Bay High School this year. CAHT funded a total of 19 $1,000 scholarships to two other area high schools in addition to East Bay, Sumner and Leonard high schools, plus the El Passos' Futuro Program.

“We focus on students who achieve good grades under challenging circumstances,” said Robbie Chaplain of CAHT. “The students on need a C average and show resilience to keep their grades at this level or better. We also help with uniforms and textbooks for students who need those. Applicants don't need to attend a four-year college; we also offer scholarships for two-year plans.”

CAHT works with local donors and businesses that would like to remain anonymous to help get the recent scholarships funded.

“We focus on educating the community on human trafficking,” Chaplain said. “We get a lot of support from our community to help further our mission and help us be there for these deserving students and offer them the scholarships.”

Chaplain and the rest of the team at CAHT were thrilled that they could give out so many scholarships this year.

“It's an amazing feeling knowing we are helping students who are still thriving under difficult circumstances,” Chaplain said. “We know the scholarship are small, but every little bit helps, and our hope is that these scholarships will assist these students to further their academic careers.”

CAHT is an all-volunteer nonprofit located in Sun City Center. Monthly meetings are held on the third Monday of each month, September through May, at the United Methodist Church in Sun City Center starting at 12:30 p.m. The meetings are free and open to the public.

If you'd like to learn more about CAHT, you can visit its website at www.sccblueheart.org.