United We Stand: Human Trafficking Conference

LINCOLN – Sex Trafficking is happening every day across the country and right here in Nebraska. In an effort to educate our communities, CHI Health St. Elizabeth, in partnership with the Lincoln organization I’ve Got A Name, will host a conference on Friday, April 26, 2024, on the Nebraska Innovation Campus. The event is titled, “United We Stand - Human Trafficking Conference” and will feature a panel of both local and national experts, including sex trafficking survivor and keynote speaker Ms. Theresa Flores. The event was made possible through a Mission and Ministries Grant from CommonSpirit Health, CHI Health St. Elizabeth’s parent organization, and aims to bring the community together to deepen our knowledge and response capabilities by learning the scope of human trafficking, identification strategies and survivor-centered care.

Conference attendees will hear from several speakers, including Ms. Theresa Flores, a sex trafficking survivor, best-selling author and founder of the SOAP Project (Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution). Flores will share her heart wrenching experience of surviving two years of being a sex slave while living at home in an upper middle class Michigan suburb. Flores will also host a Q&A following her speech.

“The fight on the frontlines” panel discussion will feature local experts including:
● Leticia Montoya-Bonifas, Executive Director of Central Nebraska Human Trafficking and Immigration Outreach
● Ben Plfanz, Lincoln Police Department Special Victims Unit Investigator
● Amber Harper, Human Trafficking Survivor