More than 30 guests and members of the Melissa Rotary Club have a new appreciation for the efforts to save young people from the high incidence of human trafficking in the DFW area after a moving presentation by Rebecca Jowers of the Poiema Foundation.
On April 28th guests and members who attended the Rotary after Work heard a moving presentation on Human Trafficking by Rebecca Jowers of the Poiema Foundation, which is a national organization based in Rockwall, Texas.
A spaghetti dinner was provided at 6:00 PM in the Melissa ISD admin building at 1904 Cooper Street prior to Ms Jowers' dynamic and engaging presentation.
After watching a documentary about innocent children sold into sexual slavery internationally, Rebecca Jowers was ready to move her entire world to help them. Two years of research on the subject of human trafficking revealed a rampant problem here in the United States. In our cities and neighborhoods, human trafficking has no borders, no matter the economics. Rebecca didn’t have to move her entire world; the need was right down the street. With the vision of raising public awareness, as well as reaching and educating the vulnerable, and ultimately opening a safe house, Rebecca created the Poiema Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
The mission of the Poiema Foundation is to:
- Educate - prevention / victim identification
- Engage - community awareness / recovery
- Empower - survivor aftercare / safe houses
- Eradicate - young men's discipleship program