"To find out how much you've truly been blessed with in terms of love, time, energy, talent, joy, abundance, confidence, intelligence, wit, or any other quality, substance, or dispensation... give of them. Then you'll know what boundless really means."

The Universe

 

 

 

TUT's Adventurers Club April 2011

'Gifts from the Universe' Project:

Polaris Project 
 

 

Creating a world without slavery... One dollar at a time! 
 

Named after the North Star that guided slaves towards freedom along the Underground Railroad, Polaris Project has been providing a comprehensive approach to combating human trafficking and modern-day slavery since 2002.

Founding Story

During their senior year at Brown University, Katherine Chon and Derek Ellerman developed a passion to combat human trafficking after reading a newspaper article describing the horrific conditions of a brothel located near their college apartments. Six Asian women who had been brought into the brothel that was disguised as a legitimate massage parlor were found with cigarette burns on their arms and were being held in a situation of debt bondage. "This was like slavery" were the words of the officer who handled the investigation. This eye-opening case made it clear to Katherine and Derek that modern-day slavery existed in present-day America in ways that they weren't even aware of.

The Mission 
 
Polaris Project is a leading organization in the United States combating all forms of human trafficking and serving both U.S. citizens and foreign national victims, including men, women, and children. They use a holistic strategy, taking what they learn from their work with survivors and using it to guide the creation of long-term solutions. They strive for systemic change by advocating for stronger federal and state laws, operating the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline 1.888.3737.888, and providing services to help all victims of human trafficking.

Polaris Project has a culture of deep commitment and service to the mission of their agency and to the people they serve. That commitment and attitude of service is what drives the staff and volunteers to dedicate their lives to this work, to each other, and to their clients. An important component of that attitude of service is humility, a practice that is encouraged and valued in their programmatic work as well as in their organizational culture.

Polaris Project continues to build upon its track record of early successes by adapting its strategies to changing dynamics on the ground, while maintaining the integrity of its original organizational culture and core values. Polaris Project aims to fundamentally change the market dynamics of the global slave trade, working towards its transformative vision for a world without slavery. Their work has also helped win passage of key federal legislation and anti-trafficking laws in dozens of states, creating the long-term legal framework necessary to eradicate human trafficking.

Currently, the majority of these anti-trafficking efforts take place in the United States and Japan. However, from 2010 and beyond, Polaris Project is beginning to move forward with an increasingly global focus. In recent years, their program staff have met with foreign delegations representing over 85 countries to provide training, technical assistance, capacity-building, and lessons learned from their work. These meetings also offer a great opportunity to engage in peer-to-peer learning and to become more familiar with the wide variety of anti-trafficking strategies and effort being implemented throughout the world.

To learn more about Polaris Project please visit their website: http://www.polarisproject.org

As part of our TUT's Adventurers Club mission, we have chosen Polaris Project as our adoptive organization for the month. To reach our collaborative goal of support for them, please donate a dollar or more now at the link below.

Happy Giving!