Who Are They?
Most victims of prostitution and trafficking come out and survive with little to no knowledge of the next step to take. Most of these victims have been abducted at a very young age, not giving them a chance to live a normal childhood. Most of these victims also have intense mental and emotional issues, making it hard for them to reach out for help. Because of this, Dr. Lois Lee, founded the Children of the Night, a non-profit, privately funded organization that is focused on the saving and rehabilitation of children that have been exposed to the horrible world of human trafficking and prostitution.
Background
It all started when Lois, then still working on her Ph.D., received a call concerning a woman who had previously met a man for prostitution purposes. She then took matters into her own hands and went to the police herself to seek aid for the woman. The next day she was found as the Hillside Strangler’s latest victim. With her determination in hand, she went on TV and announced to everyone listening that if they had any information on the Strangler but were too scared to reach out to officials, they could easily call her instead. Her phone was ringing off the hook following the announcement. This eventually led to to the arrest and prosecution of the Hillside Strangler.
But she continued to receive calls, despite the arrest, from children with no one else to contact. She invited them to her home, eventually giving shelter to 250 child victims over the next three years. All her hard work and dedication gave birth to the Children of the Night.
What Do They Do?
Ever since 1992, this amazing organization became a licensed shelter and has extended its helping hand to countless of children victims aged 11-17 from all over the United States. So far, Dr. Lois Lee has pioneered laws saying that children aged 11-17 found to be in the prostitution business should be declared victims instead of criminals. This law also states that because of them being declared as victims, they should be transferred to shelters instead of delinquent halls. A rescue hotline has also been provided by the organization since 2009, and has been open 24/7, rescuing over 10,000 victims. Transportation is also provided for free for anyone who feels the need to live in their home. The organization is also very closely tied to law enforcement in making it a point to keep children away from pimps seeking to sell them to the business.
In addition to all of these, they also make it a point to help victims move on with their lives. They have an on-site school and college placement program in their home, which provides the students a chance to finish both academic and life-skills education programs. Ongoing cases are given to hundreds of graduates willing to help.
Lois also came up with a program that provides survivors with free GED assessments, tutoring, funding, registration and transportation for the exams. She named this amazing program “Children of the Night Without Walls”. This is specifically made for those who do not have access to traditional education and social services. This same program provides its help to mentally ill patients forced out of their home but lacks the financial resources to support themselves. Caseworkers, with major help from the Social Security Administration, give patients access to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and medical benefits. Residential placement, psychiatric care, psychotropic medication, transportation, and access to these services are given to those in need.
How To Get Involved
Children of the Night has been considered one of the top organizations that help rehabilitate survivors of human trafficking and serves as a model and inspiration to other organizations of the like all around the world. To learn more about the Children of the Night, you can easily visit their website through here. You can also help them through us; as you might know by now, we share 13% of our profits to organizations that have the same end goal as us which is to stop human trafficking. This month we’ve chosen to partner up with the Children of the Night. Simply shopping at our store can help the organization.