A Breeze of Hope is a 501(c)(3) public charity founded in 2004 that is at the forefront of the global response to sexual violence against children. With a global outlook focused on prevention, healing, and justice, the reach of A Breeze of Hope’s work encompasses everything from prevention and direct services for child survivors to global policy advocacy and strategic litigation before International Courts.A Breeze of Hope’s approach has received global recognition and been extolled for representing a “what works” approach in preventing childhood sexual violence. The foundation’s approach has been lauded for being ahead of the leading international consensus on best-practices and strategies that have subsequently been formally adopted and endorsed under the INSPIRE model developed by the United Nations and World Health Organization. All seven of the INSPIRE strategies are currently and effectively implemented by A Breeze of Hope.  

Need that we identified in our field of work

We’ve been providing direct services to child survivors of sexual violence for the last 18 years. Based on our experience and research, adolescent girl survivors of sexual violence are the most at risk population for commercial sexual exploitation (CSE). Not only does their contact with sexual aggressors exponentially increase their exposure to CSE, but also the negative coping mechanisms these adolescents develop to manage the traumatic impact of sexual violence. For example, many of these adolescents adopt risky behaviors, such as severe addiction, truancy, gang affiliation, self-mutilation, dropping out of school, eating disorders, attention seeking habits, and much more. Many others experience intolerable family circumstances, which force them into the streets.

Over the years, we’ve seen that about 10% of the adolescents experience this heightened vulnerability to commercial sexual exploitation, and that these adolescents need fully dedicated support as part of a broader CSE prevention program. In 2020, we began building this program with the support of our Ross grant.

The opportunity we saw to make progress in helping children in our service field

When we identified this need, we also saw the opportunity before us and our position to make a radical difference in these adolescents’ lives. Our 18 years’ experience as direct service providers had given us the first-hand-knowledge and skills to navigate the difficult terrain of trauma recovery for child survivors of sexual violence. We already had a full staff of trauma-informed professionals and a beautiful infrastructure to provide clinical support. What we lacked, however, was dedicated staff for these adolescents and the requisite training and resources to address the unique needs of CSE vulnerable teenagers at our center.

How the Ross grant allowed us to develop, expand and deliver our programs  

Our Ross grant allowed our organization to make the necessary changes to address these unique needs. First, we consulted with expert field practitioners to train our staff in evidenced-based response to CSE and equip them with new skills and insights to better address the unique needs of these extremely vulnerable teen survivors. Second, our Ross grant allowed us the time and resources to conducted a participatory-action-research to develop the theoretical framework and practical guides lines for our CSE response. In this facilitator guide, we offer the best practices we’ve developed during 18 years of working with adolescent victims of sexual violence. This guide provides detailed instruction for each week’s therapeutic support during an entire year. Third, our Ross grant allowed us to hire fully dedicated staff for our CSE prevention program. Overall, our Ross grant is the reason our project has successfully made a positive difference in the lives of 40 CSE vulnerable adolescents.

How our Ross funded project improves the health, safety, happiness, education, and life outcomes of the children we work with 

Our Ross funded project has had a wonderful impact in the lives of CSE vulnerable adolescents. Nearly. Our project takes a wholistic approach. We work with the non-offending, supportive family members of each adolescent to create a supportive, healing environment at home. We also provide intensive individual therapeutic support to each child focused on addressing the deeper suffering and pain that drive risk taking behaviors. Each adolescent also engages in group therapy work that is part of the broader healing communities at A Breeze of Hope. These support groups provide safe spaces where these teens can develop healthy peer friendships with fellow survivors and encourage one another to excel.

Our project results have been much higher than expected. In fact, our Ross funded project has produced such an amazing impact that we now offer our CSE prevention program to every child and adolescent that arrives to our center. In this program, discover new ways to interact, have fun, grow, and heal. Having a peer support group with similar values and desires to heal ensures that none of these adolescents feel alone with their pain, and that is the magic of the program. None of us ever need carry these burdens alone.