Ask your elected officials to increase funding for human trafficking victims!

This Thursday, The Gray Haven Project is hosting a "Call Day" so that we can contact our elected representatives in Congress and the Senate to let them know that we won't be content with slavery victims remaining in the shadows in this country.

Why the Call Day?
With the end of the fiscal year approaching, numerous organizations have encountered a drastic reduction in allocated funds available for serving human trafficking clients.   The trafficking victims program, created by the Office of Refugee Resettlement has exceeded the number of projected 2013 victims by 184%.  The projected goal for this program was originally to serve 269 people, but over 500 have already been served, leaving a dire need for additional funds.
Without the additional funding needed, organizations which serve survivors will be forced to cut services, greatly diminish the number of new clients to be served, suspend assistance for immediate family members of victims, and will reduce the financial support for service providers by up to 50%.  That means that even after victims have been identified, they may be turned away or receive inadequate support.
To be clear, this additional funding is needed because the program has been so successful.  There were just more identified victims than expected, and we have a moral responsibility to aid them if we can.  Please join me and countless others this Thursday while we take a stand against this injustice and hold our elected officials accountable for action.

Contacting Your Representatives
If you're unsure who your elected representatives are, please click here for Congress and click here for the Senate. 
Once you have them (or their assistants) on the phone, use a script like this as reference for talking points:

Dear Representative,

I am your constituent and I care about victims of human trafficking.  I urge you to save the Victims of Trafficking program from drastic cuts proposed by the Appropriations LHHS (Labor, Health, & Human Services) bill.

The Appropriations Subcommittee of LHHS introduced a bill that will provide $658 million to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, $112 million mess than the current fiscal year and $147 million less than the funding requested in the President's budget.  There has been a 184% increase in the number of victims served this fiscal year from 269 to 524 victims.  These numbers show the overall success of the program and should elicit a supportive response from the US government.

Greater funding is necessary, because while there has been a 569% increase in the number of victims since USCRI's (United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants) beginning, the budget has increased by 0%.  Because of this, organizations have been forced to reduce comprehensive services to victims.

While I fully recognize the pressures to reduce spending, the United States has a responsibility to provide adequate services to those whom our government has vowed to protect.  Once survivors are identified, they need resources to help them find employment and integrate into their communities.  Cutting those services makes it more difficult for survivors to become vital, productive members of society.

 I urge you to support additional funding to the Victims of Trafficking program for the rest of the 2013 and 2014 fiscal year.

It's as simple as that.  If you'd like, please also sign this petition on Change.org to make sure President Obama gets the message as well.  To quote the CEO of the Gray Haven, Josh Bailey, "countless survivors that you will never meet will know that a united group of people stood behind them.  You are the difference."  We are the difference, and we can see an end to this ugliness.