August 4, 12:00 – 1:00 pm
[ Episode #22 ]

The Reality and Risks for Runaway and Homeless Youth

Many are aware that homelessness is a major social concern in the United States, however, did you know that between 500,000 and 2.8 million YOUTH experience homelessness within the United States each year? To make matters worse, runaway and homeless youth (RHY) are at particularly high risk for human trafficking. In fact, one study found that nearly one in five (124 of 641 RHY interviewed from around the country) were identified as victims of some form of human trafficking and that 91% had been approached by someone offering an opportunity for income that was “too good to be true.” Are you ready to learn how we as concerned citizens and family members can support the youth in our lives and prevent human trafficking within our communities? Join us for this important episode as we unpack the experiences of runaway and homeless youth by discussing risk and protective factors, recruitment methods, community resources, and much more – all with someone who directly works with these youth in our community!

Guest Speaker:
May Freck, Youth Empowerment Coordinator (Outreach), Common Ground

May Freck (BSW, CPS) is the Youth Empowerment Coordinator at Common Ground’s Sanctuary Runaway and Homeless Youth Shelter. She has worked for the shelter for four years and has been at Common Ground for over six, starting with the agency as a volunteer and then employee on the resource and crisis line. May primarily works in an outreach and educational capacity in her current role but is also the staff liaison for the agency’s Youth Leadership Council. She regularly connects with youth during and after their experiences with running away and homelessness. May is also deeply involved with the LGBTQ community as she is personally a part of it and professionally and academically has focused on issues youth in the community face, including exploitation.
>> Click Here to visit the Common Ground website

This series of live-streamed conversations was created in partnership with Hope Against Trafficking in an effort to bring perspective and build awareness on all things human trafficking.

Thanks for tuning in! If you have any specific human trafficking-related topics you would like to see discussed during future episodes, let us know at info@map-mi.org

Click here to view past episode recordings