Southern Grit Advocacy appreciates the VR education for their Mayor and Chief of Police
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is hosting a series of webinars throughout January, National Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
Today, they were doing one called “DFPS Light the Way End Human Trafficking 2023 Lunch and Learn Series: Faith-Based Champions” and one of their speakers, Vicky Payne, from Southern Grit Advocacy, started telling a story about how we got to know one another through Radical Empathy Education Foundation. So I grabbed my cell phone as quickly as I could!
“(starts in mid-sentence) … which is not on the way, he went out of his way to come here just so we could show the (Wichita Falls, TX) mayor and the chief of police this virtual experience. That virtual experience, it was right before our breakfast with the mayor, and it helped him have a better understanding. Oh my goodness he (the mayor) did such a great job at the breakfast just talking about how he's now committed because that he has a better understanding.” – Vicky Payne of Southern Grit Advocacy
Some backstory. In November, 2022, I took a trip across America to take our anti-trafficking virtual reality experience to people in person. There's no other way to explain it – you have to put a headset on your head. So, the trip started Nov 1st, at the JuST Conference, in Fort Worth. Radical Empathy Education Foundation‘s booth was right next to Vicky's. We struck up a friendship and she asked if there was any chance I could come to Wichita Falls and speak to her Mayor and Chief of Police on my way up to Chicago. I looked at my calendar and if I did that, it would mean I'd need to make a 17 hour drive to another event that next morning. I did not hesitate to say yes! because I knew I could do that drive. The meeting went great, but I couldn't stay to meet the Texas Governor with them afterwards because I had to get on the road to Illinois. Made it to the event on time, safely, in case you're wondering. 🙂
Here are the mayor's comments just after he completed the VR experience.
ABOUT SOUTHERN GRIT ADVOCACY
Our team formed in November 2019, established systems and championed prevention education in Texas public schools in 2020. We put our Texas boots on the ground in 2021 to fulfill the mission.
Our mission is to prevent, disrupt, and end human trafficking through education and advocacy.
Learn more about Southern Grit Advocacy here.
ABOUT RADICAL EMPATHY EDUCATION FOUNDATION
Radical Empathy is an Austin-based nonprofit dedicated to ending human trafficking. Their VR experiences include fully interactive, computer generated environments married with narrative, user-directed stories. Visit them at reefcares.org or you can help immediately here.
Radical Empathy's VR software, TRAPPED: A VR Detective Story, is only available through a direct licensing agreement, and operates on affordable Oculus Quest VR headsets licensees purchase themselves.