Vista Unified School District and City of Vista To Host Town Hall Event On Human Trafficking
San Diego District Attorney, County Supervisor Jim Desmond, and Trafficking Victim to Deliver Facts & Resources to Combat The Practice
DATE, 2024, Vista, CA - On Thursday, February 8th, Vista Unified School District, in conjunction with the City of Vista, is hosting a Town Hall forum on the topic of Human Trafficking (also referred to as CSEC - Commercialized Sexual Exploitation of Children). The event takes place from 6:00 - 7:30 PM at the Vista Civic Center in the Morris B. Vance Community Room. Translation services will be provided.
The office of San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan will present information on the topic, including resources to identify the signs of trafficking as well as action steps to combat the practice. Joining the DA’s office will be San Diego County District 5 Supervisor Jim Desmond, as well as Keelin Washington with Generate Hope, a survivor of the Human Trafficking Trade who will share her story.
Vista Unified Board President Martha Alvarado and Board Clerk Rena Marrocco will also deliver remarks. Omar Sarwan, a social worker for Vista Unified, will be in attendance and share the work that he and his colleagues do to help students. A Q&A session will take place after the evening’s presenters.
Dr. Matt Doyle, Superintendent of Vista Unified School District, says of the Town Hall event, “I cannot underscore enough the importance of this topic for the students and parents of our community. Sadly, there are challenges outside of the walls of the classroom that are having a disturbing impact on our student population. These types of town hall meetings can really help build collective efforts toward keeping our students safe.”
Edward Kramer, Emergency Manager for the City of Vista and the city’s lead for this event says, “Being able to bring together the reach and resources of the City of Vista and the Vista Unified School District brings enormous value and cooperation to our community. Being able to educate and mobilize our community to fight something as insidious as human trafficking makes all of our families safer and brings us together.”
“Because so much of this activity takes place quietly and in secret, it can seem to many of us that human trafficking is something that will never cross our paths,” says Dr. Cheree McKean, Executive Director of Student Support Services for Vista Unified. “But when people hear the stories and are made aware of the warning signs and how we can take action it empowers our entire community and brings us together to support one another.”
The event will take place in the Morris B. Vance Community Room at the Vista Civic Center from 6:00 - 7:30 PM. The district will provide translators for those who wish to participate in Spanish, making the event more broadly accessible to the community.
EVENT FACTS
Who: Vista Unified School District and The City of Vista, with the Office of District Attorney Summer Stephan, Supervisor Jim Desmond, Keelin Washington, Generate Hope Program Specialist and Human Trafficking Survivor, and Omar Sarwan, Vista Unified School Social Worker
What: Town Hall on Human Trafficking
When: Thursday, February 8, 2024; 6:00 - 7:30 PM
Where: Vista Civic Center, Morris B. Vance Community Room; 200 Civic Center Dr, Vista, CA 92084