Prevention
Compassion Youth MentoringPREVENTING EXPLOITATION THROUGH YOUTH MENTORING
Youth are targeted by predators.
“Every day in the United States, children and adolescents are victims of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking.” All youth need love and belonging, and traffickers can exploit that need for their own gain. But certain circumstances make some children more vulnerable to exploitation than others.
Abuse/Neglect
Homelessness/ Runaways
Foster Care
Poverty
Immigrants/
Refugees
Substance Use
Online Exposure
Intellectual/ Developmental Disabilities
LGBTQ+ Youth
HOWEVER….WE BELIEVE PREVENTION IS POSSIBLE.
Our Approach
Our approach to prevention is to pair young women and men with caring mentors from local churches to share God’s love, build self-worth, and teach life skills to youth facing complex challenges which are often exploited by predators. These interactions occur weekly after school at our Compassion Youth Mentoring locations.
Through mentorship we can foster healthy adult-youth relationships, create a safe space of belonging, teach advocacy and warning signs, and demonstrate the love of Jesus. Together we can equip youth in our neighborhoods to become successful adults, free of exploitation.
Current Compassion Youth Mentoring Locations
We currently work with local churches to serve youth in four communities.
- SE Portland, OR
- Clackamas, OR
- Oregon City, OR
- San Tan Valley, AZ
“Whether it be the harder way, the more inconvenient way, or the impossible, these women and men I have met over the last seven years have helped drastically change my life. Whether it be faith, addiction or just habits. They’ve done this without even knowing it.”
Want to fight trafficking in your city?
Have you ever wondered what you and your church can do to address the issue of human trafficking in your community, but don’t know where to start and aren’t interested in recreating the wheel? Are you excited to collaborate with others but don’t know the first thing about getting a group of churches to work together? We are excited to offer our Adorned In Grace Toolkit, which offers practical and thorough guidance for those who are passionate about rallying a group of churches in their city or neighborhood to prevent trafficking.
