StreetLightUSA
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Mission Statement
StreetLightUSA’s mission is to transition girls, ages 11-17, who are victims of or at risk for child sex trafficking, from Trauma to Triumph with comprehensive residential care and trauma-informed services for health and well-being, education, life skills, career preparation and assistance with legal needs.
About This Cause
StreetLightUSA (SLUSA) was established in 2009 as a safe haven for sexually exploited and trafficked girls in response to a horrific kidnapping and trafficking incident involving metropolitan Phoenix female minors. The impact catalyzed sufficient support from the community to raise $2.5 million for the establishment of a nonprofit and purchase of a site for a residential facility to carry out its mission. Upon securing a foster care group home license, the first child arrived at SLUSA in April 2011. In 2016, we applied for and obtained a counseling license. In late August 2017, StreetLightUSA obtained its Residential Behavioral Healthcare facility license which will allow the organization to the highest level of direct care services to those that need a more focused or intense form of care and provide these services to a larger group of eligible girls, including those involved in the juvenile justice system. We are dedicating two of our six cottages to this model of care. In the fall of 2018 StreetLightUSA launched "Prestige Academy" an on campus, trauma-informed education program that guides each child with a personalized learning plan. To date, we have served more than 1,200 girls and provided an array of comprehensive services in areas of crisis intervention and stabilization, health and wellness care, education and, life skills training. StreetLightUSA has thrived because of its coordination with law enforcement, first responders, nonprofit organizations and the resources of best practice advancement in trauma informed crisis services. We are a unique model of integrated care in our community and rare in this country. Few organizations provide a home-like shelter, on-staff therapists and case managers, a wide range of services and programs, on campus education, and a focus on providing an environment that is as close to a “family home” as possible. Our leadership has been at the forefront of providing services to this unique population for more than a decade, paying close attention to the shifting needs of the girls and the resources in our community. Kay has been a StreetLightUSA resident for nearly a year. Recently, she began visitations with her parents which lead to a backward slide in her healing process. These meetings brought back her feelings of abandonment and fear. Kay does not have a safety net beyond the people she has met at StreetLightUSA. She is learning that the normalcy she had in her childhood is not normal or safe. Her parents showed her love by doing drugs with her, which lead to dangerous situations and subsequent traumas. Frustrations and triggers from past experiences built up fear and anxiety to the point that Kay was ready to run away from our campus. She had no plan, she just felt she needed to get moving, start running, stay safe. Our therapeutic team worked with Kay to reassure her that she matters and is loved and that she is safe. Kay chose to stay another day and keep working on her plan for the future. This is success for a child in our care. A seemingly simple, yet unimaginably difficult decision for a child that has experienced trauma. **StreetLightUSA is a Qualified Foster Care Organization (QFCO) which means any donation (up to $500 individual and $1,000 joint filing) you make to StreetLightUSA is eligible to be used as a tax credit and reduces the amount of taxes you owe the state.**