Tag: Nonprofit

Nonprofit calling on Trump HHS, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reform ‘failed’ National Human Trafficking Hotline

A group of anti-human trafficking advocates called “Safe House Project” is urging the Trump administration and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reform the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

The hotline, which is run by HHS, was started in 2007 to provide 24/7 help for victims of human trafficking.

According to Safe House Project, which offers victims a range of services, including a network of shelters, the hotline has “lost all credibility” and simply does not accomplish the goal of ending human trafficking.

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Community members listen to Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price before a march to raise awareness of human trafficking in Oakland, California, on Jan. 24, 2023. (Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times )

After Kennedy cleared a committee vote on Tuesday, bringing him one step closer to confirmation, the nonprofit released a statement celebrating the step, saying that “our nation is in dire need of leadership that will restore it [the hotline] to fulfill its purpose of identifying victims of trafficking, supporting victims escaping from their traffickers, and helping bring swift justice to those who abuse and victimize desperate and vulnerable populations.”

In line with the Department of Government Efficiency’s mission to slash government waste, Safe House Project says HHS can reform the hotline to conserve its tax-dollar funding and save more lives at the same time.

“The American taxpayers funded the National Human trafficking hotline, and the reality is it has failed,” Safe House Project CEO Kristi Wells told Fox News Digital.

Wells claimed that people who call the hotline often have to wait upwards of 45 minutes, resulting in many people hanging up before even reporting a human trafficking incident. She also said that in many instances, hotline staff fail to return calls or to share tips with law enforcement.

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visits “The Story With Martha MacCallum” at Fox News Channel Studios on Sept. 25, 2024, in New York City. (Jason Mendez/Getty Images)

If he is confirmed by the Senate, Wells said Kennedy will have a “phenomenal opportunity” to save thousands of lives by moving quickly to increase the efficiency of the hotline.

“The National Human Trafficking Hotline, again, has the potential to save thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of lives,” she continued. “And so, [since] the Department of Health and Human Services is the one that oversees the effectiveness of the hotline, it’s really important that the current administration prioritizes and really holds the current hotline accountable and making sure that the services are operating the way that they need to be operating.”

In place of the current hotline, Wells is urging HHS to leverage modern technology – such as cellphone apps and AI – to create a new system that is “fast, actionable and easy to use.”

After conducting extensive research with law enforcement entities and related NGOs, Wells said she believes a new system could be created using modern technology that would make the tax dollars being spent by the government on this go much further and accomplish more.

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Trump is pictured in front of the US Capitol Building, surrounded by fencing in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 17, 2025. (Fox News Digital/Trump-Vance Transition Team)

“When you’re leveraging technology, you are really creating efficiencies of scale and really increasing scale,” she said. “And so, I don’t believe that this is a solution that would cost the government more money. I think it would allow them to use the dollars that are currently being spent on a national hotline more effectively and see more effective results.”

Wells said the Trump administration “has already shown an encouraging willingness to tackle human trafficking,” but noted, “We want to do our part to make sure that this is a top priority for them and make sure that correct actions are taken to bring victims out of the shadows, to increase reporting and to increase law enforcement and prosecution of traffickers and buyers.”

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“Human trafficking is happening all around us and we as community members have the opportunity to identify and respond to human trafficking and a new tool is really vital to us making sure that that happens,” she continued. “Whenever we have proper reporting mechanisms and we are ‘seeing something and saying something,’ then this idea that human trafficking is undercover and goes undetected is no longer the reality.”

“The reality is we’ll be able to see it more and when we start seeing it more, we’re able to empower our lawmakers with more effective data to create more effective policies. And so, I am excited about the trajectory that a more robust reporting mechanism can bring to the objective of eradicating trafficking in America.”

Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.

February 10, 2025
Nonprofit offers long-term grief support for loved ones of plane crash victims

An update from authorities after a military helicopter collided with an American Airlines plane, killing everyone on both aircraft.

Heidi Snow Cinader knows all too well the deep pain that one experiences from losing a loved one in an airplane crash. After her fiancé died when TWA Flight 800 crashed in the Atlantic Ocean in 1996, she developed an air disaster bereavement support network to help others who faced similar losses.

Through her nonprofit, AirCraft Casualty Emotional Support Services or, ACCESS, Cinader has been helping facilitate the grieving process for people who have been affected by, or involved in, air disaster-related tragedies. For decades, her charity has been connecting those who have survived or lost loved ones in air disasters with professionally trained volunteers who have experienced similar tragedies in years past.

The moment Cinader and her band of volunteers saw the debris of the American Airlines plane in the Potomac River after it collided with a Black Hawk military helicopter, it brought them back to the day when their lives were all “changed in an instant,” Cinader told FOX Business.

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“At our organization, we have the unenviable credentials of having lost loved ones in our disasters. And all these incredible people have come forward over the years from general aviation, commercial and military air crashes to really come forward to help other people get through their grief,” Cinader said.

Many of the people who are grief mentors now initially reached out for help themselves. A few years after their own loss, they became eligible to attend training and became grief mentors, offering support to others.

Emergency response units assess the airplane wreckage in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport on Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Virginia. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images / Getty Images)

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Several of the volunteers reached out after Wednesday’s crash, “asking how they can help and letting me know they’re on call, and they’re ready,” she said.

A group of ACCESS volunteers, who help facilitate the grieving process for people who have been affected by or involved in air disaster-related tragedies. (Jeff Bayer )

According to Cinader, these individuals are among the few who truly understand the pain of waiting to learn what caused the plane to crash, awaiting the recovery of bodies and being overwhelmed by constant media coverage.

Aside from grief support, the nonprofit also helps those in crisis become aware of the resources available to them.

“Through the ACCESS support system and referral services, we help individuals to overcome the feelings of hopelessness, isolation, despair, and confusion that often follow an air disaster,” the website says.

“We help minimize the risk of post-traumatic stress symptoms, long-term depression, family difficulties or an inability to function socially or at work.”

A helicopter flies near the crash site of the American Airlines plane on the Potomac River after the plane crashed on approach to Reagan National Airport. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The goal is to help people “gain renewed strength, hope, and purpose.”

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The nonprofit seeks to support people not just in the moments after an air disaster, but for the rest of their lives. This includes major life events like birthdays and times when people are getting remarried.

Finding someone else who knows “how to live a life for the long term” is really a big piece of what the organization does, Cinader said.

“I remember so well . . . when I needed somebody to be with me for what laid ahead,” Cinader said.

February 1, 2025