Human trafficking and how to help will be the subject of Fox Chapel presentation
It was a conversation with an Indian missionary that prompted the launch of Living in Liberty, a North Hills nonprofit dedicated to helping heal victims of human trafficking.
Elizabeth Echevarria, CEO, founded the group in 2012 after hearing about conditions in Calcutta and subsequently learning that the U.S. leads the world in human sex trafficking cases.
Echevarria will be the guest speaker during a presentation Nov. 11 in Fox Chapel.
Free and open to the public, the event doors open at 9:30 a.m. at Faith United Methodist Church, 261 W. Chapel Ridge Road.
It is hosted by the Fox Chapel Area affiliate of the American Association of University Women.
Echevarria completed ministry training in 2010 at Reach Northeast Ministry School in Hampton. She received her master’s degree in social work from Slippery Rock University last year.
Her group is dedicated to restoring personal dignity and healing to victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Echevarria will discuss the group’s mission along with the methods they deploy to find and help the women they strive to serve.
The group runs the safe house, Liberty Home, for victims. Over the next year, they hope to add to it with a Tiny Homes Project. The group is fundraising the $3 million costs of property purchase, design and construction.
The project will create 10 tiny houses and a community center to support survivors through an 18-month recovery process.
The group’s Street Outreach team connects with women on the streets who are being exploited or who are at risk. Since its founding, they have opened a Care Center in 2016 in the Strip District and distributed hundreds of hygiene bags to people in need.
The Repurposed Store on McKnight Road in Ross provides financial support, raises awareness and supports those doing anti-trafficking work by selling handmade items. It also provides clothing and job-training skills for the women in the safe house.
The store features Sozo Boutique items made by survivors of trafficking.
Volunteers are needed.
Trainings are ongoing, with the next one scheduled at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 15 at Memorial Park Church, 8800 Peebles Road.
Tawnya Panizzi is a TribLive reporter. She joined the Trib in 1997. She can be reached at tpanizzi@triblive.com.
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