Needs From: Volunteer Houston

Are you a lawyer who can provide pro bono legal services – immigration, custody, divorce, protective orders, record expungement – to human trafficking survivors?

Our clients really need your help! UAHT has community resources we can connect clients to but, those aren’t direct connections, and we would prefer to expedite legal processes for them.

If you’d like to donate your legal services, please apply!

Our Case Management Team provides invaluable one-on-one and group counseling services to survivors, and the addition of art therapy to the mix would be incredible! Art, in its many mediums, can be used to help clients communicate, overcome stress, and help them better understand their feelings and behavior.

So, if you are a licensed art therapist who wants to contribute your skills as a volunteer to help trafficking survivors, we’d love to hear from you!

A Call to Men: Are you looking for a way to engage in the fight against human trafficking? Do you want to explore what defines male masculinity, healthy relationships, and violence prevention?

UAHT has launched a virtual Men’s Accountability Discussion Group to end the demand for sex trafficking and is looking for male participants. The group will use the Stopping Sexual Exploitation: A Program For Men (SSE) curriculum, a non-judgmental program based on principles of social justice and personal transformation. The curriculum -- and discussion group -- explore several topics like the harms of sexual exploitation, power and violence and is open to all men.

UAHT is looking for a total of 12 men to virtually participate in two separate groups -- 6 men per group -- for 10 weeks.

One group will start Tuesday, May 4, and the second group will begin Thursday, June 3. The time commitment will be evenings from 6 to 9 p.m.

Here's what previous participants had to say about the program:

“Amazing facilitators, impassioned [participants], and worthwhile and thought-provoking knowledge learned/shared!”

“It provides a wealth of knowledge and resources for EVERYONE -- an ally or victim."

If you’re interested in participating in these crucial discussions, please sign up by May 3.

PLEASE NOTE: This program does NOT require that volunteers have considered or purchased sex or engaged in sex trafficking. It is your personal insights and opinions on the subject of exploitation that we seek.

Upcoming SSE Schedule

May Cohort: Starts Tuesday, May 4, and Ends Tuesday, July 6

June Cohort: Starts Thursday, June 3, and Ends Thursday, Aug. 5

In 2020, United Against Human Trafficking took its fight against sex and labor trafficking virtual, and now we have an amazing library of anti-trafficking materials that begs for the wider audience that captioning provides.

We're seeking volunteers to caption our Outreach and Education videos in English, and at least one volunteer to handle our videos in Spanish. Most of the heavy work will be done by a captioning app, but volunteers with keen ears and an high-level attention to detail will make sure the captions are as accurate as possible.

If you have experience transcribing audio recordings or video editing -- or if you're someone who just knows they're capable of doing the job well -- this may be perfect for you! 

 

Become part of our completely volunteer-based outreach in high human-trafficking areas! This outreach is crucial to reaching trafficking victims and sharing the Human Trafficking National Hotline in places away from their captors or employers.

Key Responsibilities include:

-- Speaking to businesses on behalf of UAHT and victims on Saturdays as your schedule permits.

-- Displaying the National Human Trafficking Hotline number in restrooms, back offices, kitchens, and storefronts -- places away from victims' captors and/or employers.

-- Entering data after each outreach activity is completed.

All volunteers who want to become part of the Volunteer Outreach Team must complete the orientation and training. (This is separate from the Volunteer Orientation that every volunteer must attend.)

Volunteer Outreach Orientation will cover the key duties, processes, script, impact, and time commitment needed to confidently speak to businesses on behalf of UAHT and trafficking victims.

If weather permits, orientation and training will take place outdoors in a park setting, and when weather doesn't permit, we'll meet in an accommodating coffee shop.

After the Orientation and Training presentation, we will drive to nearby businesses, and each participant will get to train with an experienced volunteer who will share their knowledge of the process.

We’re partnering with Aramark at NRG Park to raise funds for our programs, and we’d love to have your help!

Volunteers would provide customer service at a concession stand during 12 Texans games and other events -- such as concerts and the Monster Jam -- and a percentage of the concession sales at each event will go to UAHT. We hope to have at least 4 volunteers at each event.

Here is the schedule of games and events beginning Sept. 23 and running through Jan. 9:

Thursday, Sept. 23 -- Texans vs. Panthers -- 7 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 10 -- Texans vs. Patriots -- 7 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 23 -- Monster Jam -- TBA

Sunday, Oct. 31 -- Texans vs. Rams -- 7 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 28 -- Texans vs. Jets -- 7 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 5 -- Texans vs. Colts -- 7 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 12 -- Texans vs. Seahawks -- 7 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 17 -- Concert -- TBA

Saturday, Dec. 18 -- Concert -- TBA

Friday, Dec. 26 -- Texans vs. Changers -- 7 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 4 -- Texas Bowl -- TBA

Sunday, Jan. 9 -- Texans vs. Titans -- 7 p.m.

 

This is a project in process. More details will be provided to each volunteer as soon as we get them -- particularly to the volunteers for the first event on Sept. 23.

If you're a first-time volunteer for UAHT, we require all in-person volunteers at public events to submit a self-paid $19 background check before being approved to volunteer. An email with a link will be sent to you if no background check is on file.

ALSO, Aramark at NRG Park also requires all volunteers to agree to a background check as well.

Human trafficking occurs every day in our own communities. This crime continues to grow in the shadows of our society, and is one of the largest criminal industries in the world.

Victims of trafficking are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion for the purposes of sexual exploitation and/or forced labor.

Participants in Red Sand Projects fill cracks in sidewalks with red sand, a symbolic gesture that represents those individuals who fall through the cracks -- whether the cracks of our social, economic, and political systems or those of our personal consciousness.

We at UAHT want to highlight and remember the human trafficking victims who fall through those cracks in the greater Houston area, the very ones we make an effort each day to reach and help.

Our Red Sand Projects are meant to be volunteer-led and community-wide events, so if you'd like to host a project of your own -- whether it's in your neighborhood, your favorite park, your church, or an other public setting you'd like -- we strongly encourage you to do so!

Host a project with your friends and family or a school, community or social group!

Will you join us and host your own project?

We'll provide the red sand and flyers to hand out to passerby! (And if you want additional volunteer help with your project, we'll make every effort to provide it!)

Engaging in art offers a creative process to explore emotions, gain personal insight, and even achieve healing in ways not always possible otherwise, and because of this, we at UAHT are over-the-moon thrilled to offer a series of art classes to the trafficking overcomers!

The six-course, bi-weekly program -- called "The Art of Life" -- will cover a range of artistic expressions -- from collages to intuitive art to self-portraits -- and we are in need of supplies to ensure our participants have all the tools they need to let their creativity flow freely.

Will you help provide materials for this first art class (and others that will follow) with a donation?

ART SUPPLY LIST: Magazines (with a Wide Range of Photos), Newspapers with Color Photos, Non-Personal Photos or Images, Swatches or Small Cuts of Fabric, Glue (Stick and Liquid), Scissors, Colored Paper, Sketch Paper, White Paper, Thick Watercolor Paper, Stencils, Canvases, Paint Brushes, Palettes, Multi-Colored Drawing Pencils Crayons, Sketching Pencils, Multi-Colored Markers, Straight Rulers, Circular Rulers, Watercolor Paint, Oil-Based Paint, Acrylic Paint

ALSO: Tall Storage Racks for Our Supply Room