The Fight To End Human Trafficking

The biggest myth of human trafficking today is that “it doesn’t happen in my community”. Our goal is to fight the denial mentality, educating students from preschool to high school seniors about the importance of body ownership and the dangers of human trafficking.

E.P.I. (Empower. Protect. Invest.) was founded in 2015 following a mission trip to Thailand. The mission team to Thailand worked with the Thai Non-Profit thinkSMALL Foundation. thinkSMALL brings human trafficking prevention and anti-drug education to children in Thailand and ten other countries.

E.P.I.’s main goal is to educate this generation on human trafficking prevention, with the intention of community transformation.

Since 2016, E.P.I. provides the Prevention Project at St. Bernard’s and Eureka High Schools. Each year all freshman students successfully complete the 6-lesson program. Students create awareness projects to complete the course. The schools adopted the Prevention Project for on-going freshman classes.

The E.P.I. team has contextualized the thinkSMALL Foundation curriculum for American children, providing age-appropriate preschool through elementary school prevention education materials with the intent of doing presentations in local schools and other children’s groups.

E.P.I. houses an awareness committee, focused solely on bringing human trafficking awareness and street outreach to the community.

Primary 

We offer a one hour outreach geared towards ages 3 through 6. This outreach teaches kids about body safety and ownership through fun activities and videos.

Kids are taught three main points:
1. I am special
2. I deserve only good touch
3. My body belongs to me

This curriculum was created to introduce the topic of human trafficking at the youngest age possible. By teaching young children body safety and boundaries, they are better equipped to respond to abusive situations and report them to safe adults. We have both a Christian and Secular version of this curriculum to accommodate public school settings.

To preview this content or bring an outreach to your organization, please contact Jenny Sherman at jsherman@eurekafaithcenter.org.

Elementary 

E.P.I. provides engaging, age appropriate curriculum for elementary students through 5th grade. Students learn through visual presentation, group discussion, and hands on activities. Key themes include:

∙ What is abuse?

∙ Distinguishing between appropriate and inappropriate touch and behavior

∙ What is human trafficking?

∙ How to protect yourself and friends

∙ Strategies for Internet Safety

This curriculum provides practical definitions for abuse and human trafficking and equips kids with strategies for self and peer protection. To preview this content or bring an E.P.I. instructor to your organization, please contact Jenny Sherman at jsherman@eurekafaithcenter.org.

Middle/High School

We are pleased to be ambassadors for The Prevention Project®, a anti-human trafficking curriculum for high school students created by the Richmond Justice Initiative.

The Prevention Project program believes that in order to eradicate human trafficking, the selling of human beings for profit, we must educate young people on the lures of trafficking and invest in character and leadership development. The Prevention Project curriculum not only prevents human trafficking, but also equips student leaders to bring a lasting change for our schools, communities, and beyond.

The curriculum educates students about human trafficking and empowers them to become modern-day abolitionists through 2-lessons for middle school students and 6-lessons for high school students. Thanks to the help of generous donors, E.P.I. is able to provide this curriculum to local schools for free. To learn more about the curriculum, visit prevention-project.org.

To bring this curriculum to your school, contact Mike Newman at mike@shawandpetersen.com.