Your October Edition of FAIR News

Executive Director's Address

Dear Friends and Supporters,

As one of our closest supporters you may already know how I love to share the accomplishments of our small and mighty FAIR Girls team and the resilient, courageous survivors whom we serve in pursuit of our mission to end human trafficking, one life at a time.

FAIR Girls’ work is deeply rooted in reducing the barriers faced by young women and girls being trafficked and assisting those survivors referred to us in not only safely liberating themselves but also having the skills, resources and support they need to remain free. Your support over the last year has been vital to helping FAIR Girls make a significant positive impact in the lives of the survivors we serve through providing wrap-around specialized services on their healing journey and path towards restoration. The graphic below really demonstrates the deep investment and commitment that FAIR Girls makes in each survivor’s path to restoration and how we do it. I encourage you to take a moment to appreciate this path that each of you helped support this last year.

What is paramount to creating a path towards restoration is the depth and quality of services provided. And our FAIR Girls team really hit it out of the park this year! (Apologies, just couldn’t help myself with the Nationals in the World Series. Go Nats!). In FY19, FAIR Girls served 52 survivors, working by their side every step of the way to develop individualized care plans that addressed what they identified as their immediate safety and health needs and short and long-term goals. We are proud to share that we provided over 946 documented individualized services, including emergency/crisis intervention, case management, advocacy within the government, social service, and criminal justice systems they intersect with, and we facilitated access even more mental health, legal, and language interpretation services. We also provided 40 young women survivors with specialized emergency and transitional housing as they sought safe shelter and stabilization through our Vida Home program. Through our HOPE Court program we provided 21 sexually exploited and at-risk youth with a mentor advocate to amplify their voices as they navigated the juvenile justice system, zealously coordinating youth-centered, trauma-informed legal and social services for our youth clients.

I share some of these program highlights with you because they tell the story of the deep investment in the safety, healing and empowerment of each survivor that we worked with this year and their individual transformational journeys. We celebrate these successes because behind each number is the inspiring story of a survivor who was able to get the life-saving support she needed to transform her future. But there are still too many girls and young women who are not getting the essential help they so desperately need. That is why FAIR Girls is asking our closest supporters to continue to invest deeply in the safety and restoration of these girls and young women survivors. Your continued generous support will enable FAIR Girls to improve upon and expand the capacity of each of our life-saving programs.

Please consider the ways you too can help survivors on their path to restoration. Consider supporting our case management and Vida Home program by purchasing supplies here from our wish lists or making a donation. Join FAIR Girls in our fight against trafficking!

Wishing you the best,

Erin B. Andrews
Executive Director

Your Impact in Action

Jordan was physically, sexually, verbally and emotionally abused by her trafficker for more than a decade. She was forced into prostitution and drug addiction, but was eventually able to escape. When she was referred to FAIR Girls she was underweight, covered in bruises from horrific physical abuse, battling addiction and suffering from untreated bipolar disorder and severe depression. The FAIR Girls team worked with Jordan to rebuild her life. She stayed at the Vida Home and was provided necessities like food and clothing, as well as mental health services, legal advice, and support finding permanent housing, furniture, and a job. Jamie has maintained her sobriety, moved into stable and independent housing, and is now working toward reconnecting with her children.

Upcoming Events

Join FAIR Girls on October 29th from 6:30-8:00pm at American University – Washington College of Law for the screening of "Nameless," a documentary which focuses on child sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation in the D.C. area. Featuring 15 interviewees on the frontlines of the issue, "Nameless" takes the current pulse of the field and mobilizes viewers to recognize and combat child sex trafficking. Our Executive Director, Erin Andrews will be participating in a panel discussion following the screening.

Please plan to join FAIR Girls on November 14th from 2-5pm at the U.S. Capitol! The Alliance to End Human Trafficking, of which FAIR Girls is a member, is having a media event on Capitol Hill comprised of members of Congress, dignitaries, groups and non-profits working to end human trafficking, survivors, law enforcement and the public coming together in the commitment to raise awareness, educate and provide resources to fight all forms of human trafficking. Our Executive Director, Erin Andrews, will be speaking at this important event. Please see flyer for more details and come join us for the first step of this critical bipartisan collaboration and call to action!

FAIR Girls Staff Spotlight
Shannon Sigamoni, LICSW
Director of Programs

What is the most rewarding part of your work overseeing supportive programs tailored to trafficking survivors?

I truly enjoy seeing the survivors we work with flourish with the help of FAIR Girls. During my time at FAIR Girls, I have been lucky enough to meet some of the most amazing young women. Overseeing programs has given me the opportunity to meet women from all walks of life; those receiving services from us, those I met during street outreach efforts, or those who approach me at a prevention education event to share their thoughts and experiences.

What is your favorite part of your job?

Working with the staff! FAIR Girls is so lucky to have such a strong team that goes above and beyond for our clients everyday. I love seeing how dedicated they are to ensuring that all survivors we work with receive the services they need and the justice that they deserve. Together, we celebrate every tiny moment of success that the survivors we work with achieve because our team’s hard work and support helped make them happen. I am genuinely proud of our team!

Why is Case Management so vital to FAIR Girls' work?

Every survivor that we work is looking for support to help keep them free and safe. But of course not all survivors are the same. We don’t have one standard set approach when working with survivors because each individual needs something different to support them. They each have their own strengths and goals that they want to work towards. Our Case Management team works one-on-one with each client to ensure that the services we provide are specifically tailored to their specific needs, strengths and goals.

Donor Spotlight

Monroe Energy Fueling the Climb Foundation’s 6th Annual Charity For Champions Golf Outing Benefits FAIR Girls

A heartfelt thank you goes out to one of our amazing corporate partners, Monroe Energy, for making FAIR Girls a beneficiary of the Fueling the Climb Foundation’s 6th Annual Charity For Champions Golf Outing and for all the sponsors and supporters who made the event such a success! The generous contribution FAIR Girls received from this event will make a direct and positive impact in the lives of the trafficking survivors we serve by supporting safe housing and programming space, meals and basic necessities, transportation, and individualized case management for survivors.

To our Monroe Energy family, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support in helping us restore hope to survivors as they strive to remain safe and continue their path towards restoration and becoming Free, Aware, Inspired and Restored!

FAIR Girls has provided more than 1,000 girls and young women with safe housing, client- centered, trauma-informed direct services, and life skills they need to transition from victim to survivor, in pursuit of our mission to end human trafficking, one life at a time.

Our mailing address is:
2021 L Street NW #101-254
Washington, D.C. 20036

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