COLUMBUS, Ohio - Human trafficking is not only a popular story line on police dramas on television; it also is a growing crime in Ohio as well as around the world. An estimated 1,000 children in Ohio are at risk of being forced into the sex trade each year, and law enforcement experts say the Internet is compounding the problem.

Theresa Flores of Columbus was trafficked out of her own home at age 15. After two years, she says, her family moved and she was able to escape. Now, she works to help other survivors, who she says are often blamed for what has happened to them.

"These kids go through horrors you can't even imagine. I mean, having to have sex with 10 to 15 strangers every night; nobody chooses to do that. And we've mislabeled it 'teen prostitution,' putting the blame on these kids."

Flores says more needs to be done to get survivors the help they need and to prevent others from becoming victims.

Crystal Ward Allen heads the Public Children's Services Association of Ohio, and says they're working to educate those who work in child welfare, juvenile justice and law enforcement about the problem of human trafficking. She says it's crucial to raise awareness, so survivors receive the proper care.

"Not only do we want to make sure that these young girls, primarily, are treated as victims, we also want to coordinate our efforts with law enforcement, because it is very critical that we prosecute the criminal."

While many victims are runaways, children who have been abused or are in the juvenile-justice system, Theresa Flores says that's just part of the problem. She says youth from any neighborhood can be trafficked.

"Middle-class suburban kids that come from even a two-parent family, and have this older boyfriend that is just telling them everything they want to hear, saying, 'If you love me you'll do this,' or threatens them or blackmails them, and so it was in my case."

Flores is a founder of Gracehaven House, a shelter for child sex-trafficking victims. She also created a campaign called "SOAP" - Saving Our Adolescents from Prostitution - to bring awareness of the problem to hotel owners and managers.

Ohio Governor John Kasich recently declared what he calls 'a war on the slave trade business' in the state and a new measure, House Bill 262, would help protect victims of trafficking from prosecution.

Statistics are at www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov




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The United States' wealth gap is a persistent and complex issue. Financial institutions could help chip away at it.

The top 10% of income earners own 69% of the wealth, while the lowest 50% have less than 3%.

President and CEO of Verity Credit Union in Seattle Tonita Webb said the issue is even greater between Black and white Americans.

Black people have a long history of being denied loans from banks and other financial institutions. Webb said the first step is for these institutions to understand what communities need.

"Listening to communities to figure out where their roadblocks are, where they have run into challenges," said Webb, "and be able to work at changing the system based off the feedback and co-create solutions together."

Webb said financially underserved communities have lacked the ability to grow generational wealth, which increases the country's wealth gap over time.

She said institutions could also change the way credit scores are calculated.

Credit scores like FICO are used to determine someone's eligibility for a loan. But Webb said Verity Credit Union has been using an Artificial Intelligence program for the last year to calculate it in a different way.

"It takes into consideration reputation," said Webb, "how long you've been at a job, how you pay your rent on time, and other things that FICO doesn't necessarily capture."

Webb said using this new system, her credit union has seen an increase in lending to people who were previously denied.

She said financial institutions can also shrink the wealth gap by increasing homeownership. Programs that require little or no down payment and assist with interest rates can get more families into homes.

Webb said all of this is personal for her because she came from an underserved community.

"I want to change that for underserved communities," said Webb, "and be able to put families in the position to leave something for their kids to build upon, and that is what we're missing."




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A barbecue in Seattle is bringing the community together and will support events for youth of color in the region.

United Way of King County's second annual Community Barbecue is on Saturday at Renton Memorial Stadium.

Proceeds will go to after-school programming for the Racial Equity Coalition. The coalition is made up of 14 organizations serving Black, Indigenous and other communities of color.

Joy Sebe, associate director of education strategies for the United Way of King County, said one of the organizations is Red Eagle Soaring, which teaches and helps native youth perform native stories.

"It not only allows native youth to be in community with each other -- see caring adults and then to share their collective stories -- but it also provides the Seattle community with an opportunity to learn about native ways of life," Sebe explained.

Russell Brooks, executive director of Red Eagle Soaring, will provide the land acknowledgment at the Community Barbecue on Saturday. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Food plates for the event are $10 but no one will be turned away if they cannot afford it. People can also donate plates.

Sebe noted organizations providing support for people of color often share common experiences but can still be separated from each other. She emphasized the coalition helps overcome the challenge.

"What this coalition provides is the opportunity for us to come together to learn from each other," Sebe stressed. "To learn from our cultural differences, and that support one another as a collective."

The Community Barbecue was started last year by former Seattle Seahawks player Doug Baldwin.

Mari Hirabayashi, events and marketing manager for the United Way of King County, acknowledged the event's popularity.

"It just sounded so fun and really a great way to bring people back out into the open after COVID and everybody sort of redoing their lives again. So that was the true inspiration, and it's just taken off since then."

An event is being held this weekend to honor a farmworker who died on the job in Bellingham. It also coincides with the anniversary of the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Walking Together in Remembrance will take place on Sunday to recognize the passing in 2017 of Honesto Silva Ibarra, a 28-year-old farmworker who collapsed from heat stress at work.

"This walk is to remind all of us that we will not forget," said Jason McGill, executive director of Northwest Youth Services, which fights youth homelessness in the community, "and we will continue to advocate for what is right for all."

The walking tour will begin at 10 a.m. at the Bellingham Theater Guild. The event is sponsored by Community to Community Development, a grassroots organization that fights for immigrant and farmworkers' rights. It will highlight the need for more farmworker protections as the climate crisis worsens.

Sunday is the 78th anniversary of the United States' dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Before the bombing, Japanese Americans in Bellingham and along the West Coast were moved to concentration camps.

McGill noted that Bellingham has a troubling past, including one of the oldest Ku Klux Klan chapters in Washington.

"You only hear the positives about how progressive this community is," he said, "but this area has a really strong, deep racist history."

The event will also mark the removal of indigenous people in the region from their traditional fishing sites.

McGill is scheduled to speak at the event and will talk about his organization's opposition to a measure on the November ballot to build a new jail in the community.


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