The Coalition on Human Trafficking, under the auspices of the Notre Dame Sisters, has been awarded the Public Service Advertising Grant for Fiscal Year 2015-16. Each year, AAF Omaha’s Public Service Committee chooses a local non-profit organization to receive a vast reaching advertising campaign at little or no cost. The group will create an advertising campaign to raise awareness about human trafficking that may include a website, radio ads, TV ads, and newspaper stories.
The Coalition to Prevent Human Trafficking was created following a directive from the National Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). This committee was formed in 2014 to raise awareness on human trafficking and consisted of six women religious from the Omaha area. It has since expanded to include professionals from other social service groups from the community such as Catholic Charities and the Omaha Archdiocese, Heartland Family Service, Project Harmony, Midland Family Services, and local and federal law enforcement.
The work of the Coalition began with raising awareness, expanding to include a billboard campaign, lectures to area groups and the training of hospitality owners and management to recognize the signs that trafficking could be happening in their places of business. The grant from AAF will greatly assist the committee’s work to reach more people to work to eliminate the crime of human trafficking.