Coffee & Connection – Human Trafficking Awareness Workshop

Please join our guest speaker, Laura MacFarland for this informative workshop. 

Laura MacFarland has had a passion for helping those affected by the exploding issue of human trafficking since before she even knew what it was called. While living in Uganda for several summers, Laura was awakened to the reality that children were being forced to become child soldiers in a rebel army. After several trips to Uganda, Laura realized that the larger issue of human trafficking was stealing America’s children as well, and she decided it was imperative that she join the fight. While getting her MSW, Laura worked with human trafficking survivors across Kentucky providing direct services, and raising awareness of the issue through speaking on the topic. Laura planned a state-wide conference on human trafficking for law enforcement, professionals and students that covered a variety of topics associated with human trafficking. In her second year as a MSW student, Laura worked at a teen residential treatment center in Fort Lauderdale, where she soon realized many of the girls receiving treatment had been trafficked. To meet this need, Laura started support groups just for the girls that specialized in prevention of human trafficking, and processing each girl’s experience with human trafficking. Laura also more recently started an outreach in Palm Beach County that promotes the National Human Trafficking Hotline in hotels in West Palm where human trafficking victims are likely to pass through. Laura is the Human Trafficking Community Awareness coordinator for Shoppe561 in West Palm, and a Licensing and Family Support Specialist for Place of Hope.