September 30, 2024

Amanda Persad

Administration for Children & Families – ACFY/FY24

330 C Street S.W.

Washington, D.C. 20201

Dear Ms. Persad,

I am writing to you on behalf of Abolishing Injustice in the 21st Century (A21). At A21, we seek to abolish slavery everywhere, forever by responding to trafficking’s cycle of vulnerability, exploitation, and re-victimization with resources that reach, rescue, and restore. We are seeking $140,000 in funding to help us expand our restore-focused youth programs in the United States.

Unfortunately, for victims of slavery, the nightmare of trafficking does not end with physical freedom. According to research by the Administration for Children and Families, survivors may experience “anxiety, emotional numbness, memory loss, and depression” as well as “post-traumatic distress order (PTSD), a dependence on substance or alcohol use, and/or eating disorders.” These struggles leave survivors vulnerable to re-victimization and make it difficult for them to move forward with their lives.

At A21, one way that we help combat these emotional challenges is through trauma-informed counseling and psychological support. Like you, we believe that one of the best ways to prevent risk and trauma is to help young people achieve their full potential. We believe providing young survivors with trauma-informed care can change the course of their lives, protecting them from further trauma through revictimization and moving them towards a successful future they can be excited about. Unfortunately, at this time, the number of young victims desperately seeking these services from us is larger than our financial capacity to hire the appropriate staff needed. With your support, this is a problem we can overcome in 2025. For every $150 we receive, we can cover the personnel and material costs of providing two trauma-informed care sessions to young trafficking survivors in need.

To implement these sessions, one new part-time trauma-informed counselor will be hired by each of our four A21 offices across the United States.  The professionals will begin work April 1, 2025, and the increased number of counseling sessions will begin by May 1, 2025. Each office will be allocated funding for staff salaries, office set-up, training materials, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) tools, and appointment needs. Furthermore, each professional will be allocated specific clients whom they will work with long-term, conducting approximately 15 total appointments a week. This guarantees that these mental health professionals will have a sustainable workload and the ability to build effective relationships with the youth in their care.

We have acquired $10,000 in donations so far, thanks to donor purchases from our Freedom Catalog. With your contribution of $140,000, we can provide 1,600 trauma-informed counseling sessions to young human trafficking victims in the United States by December 31, equipping them with the emotional healing and wholeness they need to experience true freedom.

Thank you for your consideration. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me at samrm092@gmail.com or 253-455-4018. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Samantha Miller

A21 Campaign Manager