Teen girls who are victims of sexual exploitation get help at this Arizona nonprofit, and your donations help – By Mary Jo Pitzl (Arizona Republic) / Jan 12 2020
There was a time when 80% of the young girls who arrived at a West Valley center that treats victims of sexual exploitation bolted within 24 hours.
The teens had moved from one traumatic situation to an unfamiliar, gated campus, their minds reeling as they tried to process what was going on. The easy response was to take off, to flee yet another unknown situation.
Today, 80% of those girls stay, said Skye Steele, chief executive officer of StreetLightUSA, a treatment facility and group home that offers counseling and therapy services for girls ages 13-17 who have been sex trafficked or are at risk of being so.
It’s an abrupt reversal from two years ago. Credit a change in decor and a shift to a zen-like atmosphere for part of the change.
The facility’s intake room, where the girls go when they first arrive at Streetlight, was redone. The staff outfitted it with sensory-modification features, such as room-darkening curtains, a cushy glider chair, tiny LED lights and essential-oil diffusers. A bubble tube filled with floating artificial fish and illuminated by a changing rainbow of colors emits a steady buzz that calms the nervous system, Steele said.
Continue to article: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-child-welfare/2020/01/12/season-sharing-streetlight-usa-helps-arizona-teens-sex-trafficking-victims/4356423002/
