Of My Own - Healing for At-Risk and Trafficked Youth
Since the creation of Of My Own in 2014, HEAL International has provided direct education and empowerment for over two-hundred Arizona youth ages 11-18 who have been sex-trafficked.
HEAL International’s program is designed to empower children who have experienced trafficking to see that they can have a new future -- a future free from their past. Our programs are designed to enable youth to create a new view of themselves and their experience of the world. And our programs deliver essential sexual health and wellness training and education.
Of My Own provides sexual health education to empower youth, build self-esteem, and teach healthy relationship skills. To accomplish this, it is imperative that we build credibility and trust. Many of the youth have experienced negative relationships in their lives and come with unique perspectives, challenges, and backgrounds.
Of My Own has impacted the lives of over 300 children in Arizona who have experienced sex-trafficking. Our team is committed to creating a safe and powerful space for youth to feel heard and acknowledged. We work with individuals to develop a new future in which they are at the source of their own health, well-being, and relationships with themselves and others. Through this program, we are someone who listens to them, someone who meets them where they are at, and someone who accepts them for who they are.
Specifics of HEAL's program:
- Program is facilitated by Trained Community Health Facilitators
- Curriculum base approved by Arizona Department of Education’s Materials Review Committee and used by Southwest Center’s Positive Peer Prevention program in schools for the past 12 years.
- Outcome measure tools to evaluate the effectiveness of the program
- Only program providing sexual health education, empowerment, and healthy relationship skills to sex-trafficked youth in Arizona
- About 100 trafficked 11-17 year-old Arizona youth annually
Sources of support for this program:
- Of My Own is currently funded through support from the Harris Foundation, the Mihaylo Foundation, the Woodside Community Action Grant through Arizona State University, and private donors.
