Innovation Competition Seeks New Ideas to Support Human Trafficking Survivors in the United States
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Irving, Texas, Dec 17, 2013 --
Dallas-based organization, The Aidmatrix Foundation, Inc, has been
named as finalist in the first round of the Partnership for Freedom, a
competition seeking innovative ideas to better care for survivors of
modern-day slavery in the United States. Their proposal was submitted
with San Francisco-based Caravan Studios, a division of TechSoup Global.
Caravan
Studios and Aidmatrix joined together to submit SafeNight, a concept
that will support the provision of on-demand emergency shelter for human
trafficking survivors. By creating a mechanism that
engages individual donors to fund emergency, on-demand hotel placements,
SafeNight will increase the availability of emergency shelter for human
trafficking survivors; provide an opportunity for additional services
and support to be offered by case managers; and provide data for the
field on the real needs for shelter. Their entry was selected from more than 160 submissions representing 260 applying organizations.
Today,
tens of thousands of people in the U.S. are currently living in some
type of modern-day slavery. Although efforts to combat this crime have
increased in recent years, care and recovery support for survivors
remains inadequate. The Partnership for Freedom's first Challenge, Reimagine: Opportunity,
is looking for creative, sustainable ways to address three critical
issues faced by human trafficking survivors: sustainable housing;
economic empowerment; and social services. Two additional Challenges
will be launched in 2014 and 2015 to address other ways of combating
human trafficking.
"We
are excited to be in finalists in the Reimagine: Opportunity Challenge
and to get the chance to learn more about innovations in the
anti-trafficking field," said Marnie Webb, CEO of Caravan Studios. "When
we started understanding the scope of human trafficking in the U.S., we
were stunned by the lack of emergency shelter for survivors. We want to
help change that with SafeNight."
"Agencies
that serve the needs of survivors of human trafficking are in great
need of on-demand funding, especially to handle the unpredictable surges
in the number of those who need shelter on any given day," said Keith
Thode, CTO and COO of the Aidmatrix Foundation. "We're happy to be able
to bring Virtual Aid Drive, our tool for donation management, to this
community."
Caravan
Studios and Aidmatrix, along with twelve other finalists, will
participate in an Innovation Workshop in Washington, D.C. in January
2014 to further develop their ideas. The final winners will be announced
in Spring 2014 and will receive funding to begin piloting their
solutions.
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About Partnership for Freedom
The Partnership for Freedom is a public-private partnership that was first announced by President Obama during his landmark speech on human trafficking in September 2012. It is led by Humanity United,
a foundation dedicated to building peace and advancing human freedom,
and the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women initiative and Steven
Spielberg's Righteous Persons Foundation.
About Humanity United
Humanity United is
a U.S.-based foundation dedicated to building peace and advancing human
freedom. At home and in the corners of the globe where these ideals are
challenged most, we lead and support efforts to lift up the voices and
will of people, ensure good governance and the rule of law, engage
markets and business as a force for change, and encourage the
exploration of promising ideas and innovations to end conflict and
slavery-all with the belief that everyone has the right to a life that
is peaceful and free. Learn more at www.HumanityUnited.org or follow us on Twitter (@HumanityUnited) and Facebook. Humanity United is part of the Omidyar Group: www.omidyargroup.com.
About Caravan Studios
Caravan Studios is the newest division of TechSoup Global, a 25-year old nonprofit organization. TechSoup Global's mission is
working toward a time when every nonprofit and NGO on the planet has
the technology resources and knowledge they need to operate at their
full potential. Caravan Studios delivers on that mission by working with
communities to develop tools that help them organize, access, and use
local resources to address pressing problems. Find out more about
Caravan Studios at www.caravanstudios.org or follow us on Twitter @caravanstudios. TechSoup Global is online at www.techsoupglobal.org.
About Aidmatrix
The Aidmatrix
Foundation, Inc. is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit headquartered in Irving,
Texas, USA, with offices in Germany and India. More than 52,000+ leading
business, nonprofit and government partners leverage our solutions to
mobilize more than $1.5 billion in aid annually, worldwide. The donated
goods, money and services impact the lives of more than 65 million
people. You can learn more about Aidmatrix at http://www.aidmatrix.org or follow us on twitter at @aidmatrix .
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