Hello everyone. I hope you all are enjoying this great Fall weather. I would like to start by thanking everyone that came to our Grand Opening! What a success and such a delight to see all our supporters gathered. I would like to send special thanks to our speakers, volunteers, and sponsors. Project Light felt very celebrated by each, and every one of you and your hard work was much appreciated.   The staff has been working on volunteer training with several new volunteers joining Project Light these last few weeks. Having volunteers is key to our mission and allows us to get into our community to spread awareness. If any of you fine folks have a few hours to spare each month, please join us. We are always busy making care bags, working on our next event, giving presentations, or setting up at various occurrences in the community. Come partner with us!!  We are so excited to be part of a four-part webinar series with the N.C. Demand Reduction Task Force. The series will be focused on The Intersection of Technology & the Demand for Human Trafficking. Dr. Duncan will be facilitating conversations with leaders of the INVICTUS Project and Street Grace on how technology is being used to assist law enforcement with lowering the demand in N.C. on November 6th, at 2:00.  We would love to have you join us. Registration is now open.  See the flyer on page 9 for more information.  Project Light will be the keynote speaker, along with several others at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, November 23rd at 9:30 a.m. - 12:30p.m., Hosted by The Catholic Charities of the Charlotte Diocese. We are thrilled to be invited to this event, and we hope to leave a footprint with all that attend and find more supporters within our community in fighting this epidemic with us. We encourage all parents that have children that are on social media to be here.  Online child exploitation is one of the fastest growing crimes.   We will have more details next month on our annual Human Trafficking Awareness Day event, January 11th, 2025, that you will not want to miss, and of course our 2025 Summer Fundraiser!! Take care of one another and have a great rest of your month.   Mahalo, (fundraiser hint)  -Amy Young

Our new Project Light Rowan billboard is not standing on Hwy 29 heading into Salisbury from China Grove. This space was generously donated to Project Light, and we believe it will be a great tool in the fight against human trafficking. It's imperative we continue to highlight the blight of human trafficking in the community conversation, and to communicate that there is indeed help available to the hurting.

Hi folks. Dr. Jim here. We are so blessed to have a great staff at Project Light and equally super volunteers. We want to reach all 150,000 plus citizens in Rowan County and those around us with an Awareness, Prevention, and Reporting of human trafficking. Hey folks, it’s working.  We have been able to meet and speak with hundreds of individuals with ages ranging from 5 to old ones like me regarding safeguards and information pertaining to being aware of the dangers of sex and labor trafficking.  You can see from our monthly newsletters how active we have been.  Our Grand Opening is on October 1, and if you haven’t signed up to attend, please do so today on our website projectlightrowanht.org/events . We are thankful to Chick-fil-A and The Hot Dog Shack for their support.  Please consider being a Project Light Partner. Your support keeps us going.

Hi Folks. Dr. Jim here.  Project Light has been non-stop this month. Several presentations were made and are mentioned in this newsletter. Our goal continues to be able to reach every citizen in Rowan County and beyond with the awareness of human trafficking.  We are days away from launching the Anyway Anywhere 5K. We need more folks to sign up for this fun event. This is the only fundraiser for the year. If you can’t participate, please consider sending a special donation.  Hey, we will do the work, but we need your help.  We are excited that Amy Young has joined our staff and you will hear a lot more about that a little later.  I wanted to mention about some online training regarding human trafficking. Our staff and volunteers at Project Light take online courses with Justice U and Engage Together. They are excellent. Check them out and if you become a volunteer, Project Light will even pay for your courses.  Thank you for your prayers and support.  Jim PS: Google Project Light Rowan for more information about the 5K

By Karissa Miller A group of girls attending the Abby Winthrop SMART Girls Leadership Camp learned about the signs of human trafficking or modern-day slavery on the campus of Mitchell Community College on Tuesday morning. Guest speaker Jim Duncan, founder of Project LIGHT in Rowan County, explained that human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to introduce someone into labor or sexual exploitation. Duncan explained that vulnerability or the ability to easily be hurt or harmed can make people targets of human trafficking. He asked the group to take 30 seconds to write down what they think makes a person vulnerable to human trafficking. Project LIGHT Director Amy Young read aloud their responses, as follows:• When someone doesn’t know how to say no or stick up for themselves;• Leaving their house and becoming a runaway;• Being alone and not knowing your surroundings;• Walking alone and having bad family problems;• No parental supervision; and• Unstable or weak mental state. “You are actually teaching this class to one another. These are good responses,” Duncan said. He then held up a poster of two dogs with a fierce look on their faces guarding a young girl. “This dog right here, that’s me. This dog is Ms. Amy. What we are trying to say is you need to be protected. You need to be treated right. You need to be able to grow and nurture and do the right thing. That is what we are here for,” he said. North Carolina ranks in the top 10 among the states with the most human trafficking. Duncan said that the City of Charlotte ranks No. 1 among cities with the most human trafficking. He shared some of the vulnerabilities data with the group. Out of 202 unique clients, they found: • 67.12 percent of victims came from a household where parents were separated;• 53.15 percent of cases involved sexual abuse; and• 45.95 percent of cases involved emotional neglect If parents are separated, it doesn’t mean that someone is being trafficked, but that they are just more vulnerable, he said. “Nobody should touch you where they shouldn’t touch you. Your body is your body,” Duncan told the students. “A man is no more important than a woman. You are important. Every one of you.” He also said that people who are emotionally neglected aren’t getting the attention they need. Be careful, he cautioned the students, about people who come alongside you that make you feel good for their own purposes. During the presentation, he shared a testimonial video of human trafficking survivors. The speakers described socio-economic vulnerabilities and other unstable home factors that led them to become victims of human trafficking. Fortunately, they were both able to find a way out and get help. Young explained that the Internet is one of the biggest cultural threats to human trafficking. She encouraged students to protect themselves while on the Internet. “You may think you are posting an innocent picture of you and your friends out, but a perpetrator may look at that picture in another light,” Young said. “They are looking at where you are, what restaurant you are at, who you are with and may start canvasing that area.” Young also shared these Internet safety tips:• Protect yourself by making sure your privacy settings don’t share personal information publicly.• Use strong passwords and change them frequently.• Review posts that you have been tagged in and refuse any tags that you don’t feel comfortable with. Duncan encouraged students to save the human trafficking hotline number in their phone 1-888-373-7888 or text the hotline at BEFREE (233733). About Project LIGHT Project LIGHT, which stands for “Let’s Interrupt Growing Human Trafficking,” is a nonprofit that supports schools, churches, police departments and government agencies on how to notice and report human trafficking. This free community resource offers educational seminars, shares the signs of human trafficking, helps support survivors in their recovery, trains teams to help specific communities and more. Duncan is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and Green Beret. After retiring from the military, he brought the first Junior ROTC program to Rowan County. He first began working with human trafficking through the Salvation Army. “The Lord put it on my heart to try and do something. We have to stop this before this happens,” he said in an interview. Project LIGHT first started out in a small area in Rockwell. However, Duncan explained that the county commissioners wanted the group to move into a more visible area and they are now located in a bigger building in Salisbury at 1935 Jake Alexander Blvd., Suite C4. LEARN MORE Visit p rojectlightrowanht.org or call them at 704-223-6143 to have them speak at your church, school or event. Free literature information is available in both English and Spanish. https://www.iredellfreenews.com/news-features/2024/project-light-works-to-increase-awareness-of-human-trafficking/

The month of June was another busy time for Project Light. We have received a lot of (visitors) since our move to the West End Plaza. We are so thankful that we are able to not only bring awareness to Human Trafficking but also help some folks in their struggles.  We continue to partner with other agencies. We all must work together. Project Light was blessed recently by Meals on Wheels who provided us with much-needed office partitions. Thank you. That is a good partnership example. We are ready to launch a fun (fund) raiser and it is open for all ages. It is the Anyway Anywhere 5K. Please sign up.  Stay tuned for more great news coming soon.  -Jim

April has been one of our busiest months for Project Light. We have made several presentations and attended some very important conferences. Project Light has been speaking to our legislators concerning funding for agencies like Project Light that are engaged heavily in awareness and prevention of human trafficking. They all have assured me that they will try to get approval for more assistance for us. That would be wonderful. We are in our new office, and it is nice. Please come by and check it out. The new office has allowed us to set up a classroom for up to 25 people. We also have ample storage space, and we will be sharing this space with our safe house partners. Project Light needs more volunteers for our 12 teams. Our goal is to fill the 12 teams with 10 members in each team. That will be an additional 120 volunteers joining the battle against human trafficking. Wow! We need your help in joining us as partners. Go to our website and press donate and follow the instructions. Help us to reach 1,000 partners. See you soon, Jim.

https://www.salisburypost.com/2024/04/17/commissioners-recognize-local-volunteers-present-state-awards/

March has been a great month for Project Light. We have been able to make several presentations to great organizations. Salisbury Rotary, Rowan Helping Ministries and Life Choices are some of the March presentations. We have fantastic news regarding a unanimous vote of approval from our County Commissioners to allow Project Light to relocate to the West End Plaza. We love our location in Rockwell and the town leadership has been a great partner. However, we will gain more space and be better situated to perform our tasks. Our Sheriff Department had a anti human trafficking operation (a sting) and praise The Lord a 16 year old victim was rescued. We are privileged to have had a part with our Sheriff Department. AGAIN, YES WE HAVE A HUMAN TRAFFICKING PROBLEM IN OUR AREA. We all need to do something. Can you meet with us for only 2 hours on April 27th from 10-12 at the Varick Auditorium at Livingstone College and pray with us? Please check our website for more details and look at the listing below. We need you! God Bless, Jim

Project Light is currently the only full time anti human trafficking agency in Rowan County. The primary mission is to bring awareness, prevention and reporting of human trafficking. Can you imagine what it would be like if we could get ALL the church denominations together and pray against human trafficking? WELL IT IS HAPPENING!! Project Light is partnering with Livingstone College and others to bring us all together on Saturday April the 27th at 10 am at the Warick Auditorium at Livingstone College. Can we put aside any differences we have and gather together as one and seek The Good Lord to help us rid our area and beyond from the horrors of human trafficking? Many have asked what they can do. Can you give 2 hours of your life to pray together against this demon? Trafficking is getting worse every day and we need everyone involved in stopping this madness. Please join us? Go on the following website for more information. projectlightrowanht.org Dr. Jim Duncan Executive Director Project Light

https://www.salisburypost.com/2024/03/20/county-grants-1-lease-to-project-light-for-space-in-west-end-plaza/

https://youtu.be/bPnxAnbZh14?si=xSfwpdzMfj1AG9M6