The Exodus Road, a global nonprofit based in Colorado Springs dedicated to freeing victims of human trafficking and trafficking prevention, held a Together on Freedom’s Frontier fundraiser on April 25. The Exodus Road has projects in 10 countries and teams in six, and does work in Colorado and other states. It was founded nearly 15 years ago by married couple Matt and Laura Parker, when they were young parents raising their kids while running a children’s home in Southeast Asia.
The Pikes Peak Bulletin sponsored a table at the event.
“When you think about human trafficking, there are 50 million modern-day slaves today, over 1 million right here in the United States,” Laura said in an address to the event crowd filling Phil Long Music Hall. And it’s oftentimes super overwhelming to think about that amount of human beings that are bought and sold. But we say we’re in the business of turning numbers to names.”
A short film then played on a big screen behind the Phil Long Music Hall Stage. The film, written and produced by The Exodus Road’s VP of Communications, Preston Goff, centered on a poem read in alternating voices; the accompanying pictures reflected the wide variety of persons forced into human trafficking situations.
I have a name
I’m not a statistic, not one of 50 million
Not a transaction, not a silent voice
I have a name
They tried to destroy it when they
priced bodies like goods on the shelf
When they measured our worth with no care for our health
When they stifled the cries that yearned to break free
When they planted self-doubt where my hope used to be
They tried to erase my identity
But I write my own reality
I have a name
That outlasted captivity
That survived the hostility
I have a name
That held fast when everything else was taken away
That walked through flames and used them to forge an identity
No force on earth can burn away
I speak it now: My name is Freedom
Not Freedom as a hollow ghost
That serves a few but fails most
Not Freedom as a slogan but Freedom as dignity
As breath in my lungs, as a declaration that I’m still here
As the right to humanity
My name is Freedom
I count the stars through open windows
I see without permission
My name echoes in once-forbidden laughter
I grow gardens from out of my oppression
My name is Freedom
Behind each number beats a heart
Behind each story shines a spark
Not one in 50 million
But one. And one. And one. And one.
I have a name.
My name is Freedom.
We can get them their name back. – Matt Parker
Matt then addressed the audience.
“I have the distinct honor of being The Exodus Road’s first undercover investigator conducting human intelligence operations,” he said. “I partnered with the Thai Royal Police … to go down dark alleys into brothels looking for children who were being sold for sexual services.”
He acknowledged that the number of victims is overwhelming, as is the depth of the abuse perpetrated on victims, many of whom are children. He spoke of seeing children for sale with a number pinned to them for identification.
“These young girls had lost their names,” he said. “They had lost their identity. They had … purposely by traffickers been placed on stage as a commodity, like a canned good you would choose off of a shelf.”
He recalled how, when he asked a victim for his or her name, they would often respond with a nickname. But he would tell them he wanted to know their real name.
“And they always looked surprised that anyone would care, because hundreds of men before me had not cared,” he said.
“The 50 million number, that’s too much. It’s overwhelming; it’s paralyzing,” Matt said, adding, “But to that one little girl or boy, we can help him or her. We can get them their name back.”
To date, The Exodus Road estimates it has helped bring over 5,600 survivors into freedom, with more than 2,300 supported with aftercare. Over 1,700 perpetrators have been arrested as a result of their efforts, and over 52,000 officers and citizens have been trained to combat human trafficking.
The fundraiser exceeded its goal of raising $25,000, 100% of which will go to support program work around the world impacting approximately 1,000 lives through prevention training to at-risk children, funding critical trafficking investigations resulting in freedom and arrests and supporting survivors through their healing journey.
With over 80% of child sex crimes starting on social media, The Exodus Road offers prevention training for parents and guardians to help kids have a safer online experience. Learn more at Influenced.org.
A main sponsor of the Together on Freedom’s Frontier fundraiser was Colorado Media Group, which publishes NORTH magazine. Laura and Matt are NORTH’s People of the Year, and the April/May edition of NORTH features their story. Find it at ColoradoMediaGroup.com.
To learn more about Exodus Road and to make a donation, go to TheExodusRoad.com.
