Lake County Alliance Against Human Trafficking team hosts awareness event

Jul. 22—Human trafficking awareness recently was put in the spotlight in Lake County in an effort to show how community members can help.

The Alliance Against Human Trafficking team partnered with the General Federation of Women's Clubs' Eastlake Women's Club, representatives of law enforcement and others for Ohio Department of Public Safety's Bridging Recovery and Interdiction Data Gathering Enforcement (BRIDGE) Day to Focus on Outreach.

According to Carolyn Kinkoph, co-founder of the Alliance Against Human Trafficking, the purpose of the partnership was to make connections with Lake County communities and to promote prevention, treatment and/or recovery centers.

To raise awareness of resources in the area, a hybrid human trafficking awareness training event took place July 19 at St. Justin Martyr in Eastlake and St. Hubert's Episcopal Church in Kirtland Hills.

The event featured speakers, with topics including information relevant to the intersection between human trafficking, substance use and mental illness along with trauma-informed and survivor-centered resources.

Lake and Geauga County community members, school resource officers, school security officers, other first responders, front-line workers, educators and the medical community were among those in attendance at the event, as well as advocates who work with youth, adults, human trafficking victims, survivors and those at risk.

“It was an honor to connect with local, state and federal participants for the statewide community outreach BRIDGE Day in Lake County,” Kinkoph said. “These issues are important to me personally because my daughter lost her life as a result of victimization.”

In conjunction with National Deflection Week, the Ohio Department of Public Safety, state, local and private entities drove the statewide community outreach day. According to the Department of Public Safety, BRIDGE Day is to solely focus on outreach by initiating a proactive approach.

Partnering is essential for proactive prevention through raising awareness, protecting human trafficking victims, survivors and those at risk by providing services and prosecuting others, Kinkoph said.

“I am grateful for our community's prevention, treatment and recovery centers that provide these valuable resources,” she said.

Helping school resource officers understand and learn to identify signs of human trafficking can make a difference in the lives of children, said Kathy Goellnitz, co-founder of the Alliance Against Human Trafficking.

“We encourage everyone to learn more about human trafficking and how it is affecting our region,” said Kimberly Fraser, executive director of the Lake County ADAMHS Board. “The Lake ADAMHS Board's continuum of care is here to support those individuals who are living with a mental illness and or substance use issues.”

By providing treatment for those with an illness, the Lake ADAMHS Board hopes to remove or save people from being targeted or taken for human trafficking, Fraser said.

For those interested in getting involved in anti-trafficking response efforts, they are encouraged to contact their local coalition.

The Willoughby-based Alliance Against Human Trafficking coalition can be reached at 440-339-4494. To learn more about Operation BRIDGE, email [email protected].