by Ramona MacIntyre | Director of Development
April 2024
My daughter, a high school senior, recently applied for her first job. I was sitting next to her while she nervously filled out her applications, answering questions like “What’s my social security number?” and helping her draft emails to ask for references. You know– adulting.
At the same time, there were the college applications. That was a heavy lift for all of us! As soon as 12th grade starts, it’s SATs, references, and essays. Once you have gathered the wild amount of required information, it’s time to pay up. We were charged nearly $500 in application fees!
Love146 is working to end child trafficking. Part of that is helping youth who have gone through our long-term Survivor Care as they transition to adulthood. That means we support with things like employment, education, parenting, and housing.
These kids have climbed what seems like insurmountable hurdles and now they are ready to claim their independence and go to school or get jobs. How amazing are they?!
But as joyous as this time is, it can also be really stressful and even feel impossible at moments. It wasn’t until I started working through this with my daughter that I remembered just how challenging it is to do these things for the first time. She felt so overwhelmed and anxious.
As I’ve been with her through this roller coaster, my mind has often gone to the youth who’ve been trafficked or victimized and are still trying to move forward. Who is sitting next to them while they send applications? Who is proofreading their essays? Who is hugging them and reassuring them that it will be okay? How are they supposed to pay these application fees? My heart aches. What if they had to go through all of this alone while also carrying the weight of their past victimization on their shoulders?
Well, the youth in Love146’s Survivor Care don’t have to. I think of all my colleagues who are supporting them and I feel relieved. They’re with them every step of the way.
And then I think of you. You are journeying with children too! Your generosity enables us to provide consistent, expert support to youth. They never age out of our care. We’ll be there for these youth for whatever may lie ahead. But we need your support to keep making this work happen.
Together, we’ll do everything we can to ensure that their future is free from exploitation, and all this “adulting” is a big part of that.
Thank you for showing up.
