Welcome to Soroptimist International of Bend, Oregon

ZOOM Program, Furnish Hope - SI Bend Press Release

Furnish Hope Executive Director to speak

Jill Kaufman and Rebecca Battleson from  Deschutes County Stabilization Center will discuss resources available to those in need of short-term mental health crisis assessment and stabilization. Services to the community include crisis walk-in appointments, Forensic Diversion Programs, peer support, and more.

Soroptimist International of Bend invites the community to access this ZOOM program on Thursday, January 26, 2023 from 12:00pm to 1:00pm. Please contact info@sibend.org for links and instructions.

Come join us!  We are once again gathering in-person for Board Meetings and Business Meetings!

Our meetings are held at:

Deschutes Historical Museum

129 NW Idaho Ave, Bend, OR 97703

Board Meeting

1st Thursday of the month: 12 noon - 1pm

For Board members only.

Business Meeting

2nd Thursday of the month: 12 noon - 1pm

Open to members and guests. Please RSVP.

Sex Trafficking In Central Oregon – Update Your Knowledge – January 22 Discussion

Sex Trafficking is a booming industry. And, YES, it occurs in Central Oregon. It thrives because there is a serious demand. The buyers fuel the market with their money. Defined:

Sex Trafficking occurs when someone uses Force, Fraud, or Coercion to cause a

commercial sex act with an adult or causes a minor to commit a commercial sex act.

A commercial sex act includes prostitution, pornography, and sexual performance done

in exchange for any item of value, such as money, drugs, shelter, food or clothes.

Join us Wednesday, January 22, 2020, at the Bend Senior/Larkspur Center, 1600 Reed Market, Bend from 6-8 PM to listen to local experts in the field of sex trafficking. The speakers will hold a panel discussion on what is currently taking place in our community. The event is sponsored by Soroptimist International of Bend which is part of a worldwide service organization dedicated to the mission of improving the lives of women and girls {www.sibend.org}. Each of the participants is deeply engaged in responding to trafficking and advocating for the support of survivors.

Amy Martin, J Bar J Anti-Trafficking Program Manager, will speak about their program serving survivors. She has 25 years of experience working in the field of Social Services, 15 of those years working in Central Oregon. Currently, she is the program manager for the “at:project”, a program through J Bar J serving survivors of human trafficking. Previously, Amy was Housing Programs. Manager at NeighborImpact and supervisor of Nancy’s House Family Shelter. She recently was employed as a Child Protective Services Investigator for State of Oregon.

Monica Desmond, Deschutes Co. Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) Response Team Coordinator, will address their work. CSEC works to ensure a comprehensive response to exploitation and human trafficking in our region. A member of the State of Oregon Attorney General Trafficking Intervention Advisory Committee, she also has 20 years of experience working in direct social service, community organizing, with non nonprofits, as well as serving with such organizations as the Homeless Leadership Coalition and the Housing Workgroup of the Central Oregon Health Council.

Andrea Perry, the Guardian Group, will explain their mission of how to prevent and disrupt the sex trafficking of women and children while enabling partners to identify victims and predators in the United States.

She has a degree in Psychology from California Polytechnic State University. Her efforts have been focused in the adolescent counseling sector and working with youth in multiple different capacities. Moving to Oregon in 2015, she was introduced to the Guardian Group, began volunteering and later joined the team full time.

Sara Hunt-Perkins is a Survivor, abolitionist, mentor, public speaker and advocate for Human Trafficking awareness and prevention. Sara uses her own experiences as a survivor of 2 1/2 years in the game to educate men, women and children on the realities of sexual exploitation, how/where it happens and how we ALL can change the game together.

The event is free. Refreshments will be provided. www.sibend.org

Definition provided by Shared Hope--- https://sharedhope.org/the-problem/what-is-sex-trafficking/

January is National Human Trafficking month and in observance, Soroptimist International of Bend will host a panel discussion by the Commercial Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) Response Team Panel of Deschutes County.The CSEC team, which recently was awarded certification from the Oregon Attorney General’s Trafficking Intervention Advisory Committee, will discuss issues related to the sexual exploitation of children in our local communities. Trafficking happens everyday in Central Oregon and it may not be what you think. Community members will learn what signs to look for and how to help.

The CSEC Response Team consists of four members, including:

• Ashley Beatty, the Program Manager for the Victims Assistance Program with the District Attorney’s Office;
• Josh Spano, a Detective within the Criminal Division of the City of Bend Police Department; Josh is currently assigned to the Human Trafficking caseload and is a member of the CSEC team;
• Melissa Parker, a Project Manager for the Cascade Youth & Family Center. Mel provides supervision to three federally-funded projects, including the Domestic Victims of Human Trafficking programs; and
• Monica Desmond, the CSEC Response Team Coordinator.

The public is welcomed and encouraged to attend this important noon time discussion at the at the January 24, 2019 SI Bend program meeting. Join us at the Deschutes Historical Museum, 129 NW Idaho, from noon to 1:00pm, on Thursday, January 24, 2019. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. More information at www.sibend.org or 503-519-5051.

Soroptimist International of Bend held a candlelight vigil to draw attention to the plague of human trafficking on Monday, January 11, 2016, the National Day of Human Trafficking Awareness.