During Human Trafficking Awareness Month, January 2025, For All Seasons once again partnered with community agencies to bring awareness to this growing hidden crime. This year, the agency reached out to area youth to creatively engage them about the risks of human trafficking on the Mid-Shore. Agency staff highlighted the intersection between human trafficking, technology, and internet safety by partnering with the Easton High School AP Spanish class and Building African American Minds (BAAM).

For All Season’s anti-human trafficking team delivered educational activities to the students at EHS and BAAM that included a presentation, discussion, and a collaborative art project. Susan Ahlstrom, For All Seasons’ Regional Navigator, led the youth through an overview of human trafficking prevention, information on healthy relationships, and internet safety tips. The art portion included students breaking and destroying pieces of technology to be used in their collages, highlighting the intersection between human trafficking, technology, and Internet safety.

“This educational adventure invited youth to participate in an interactive experience where each youth (or group) created their own art piece using technology pieces and parts – a visual image that reflects the message of the Red Sand Project, a participatory art where participants pour red sand into cracks in surfaces like sidewalks and floors. The red sand represents the victims of human trafficking who have slipped through the cracks yet may still be hiding in plain sight. By engaging with the subject in this interactive manner, the youth would have something to share to help promote the information with their peers,” explains Susan Ahlstrom, Human Trafficking Regional Navigator at For All Seasons.

“My AP Spanish students learned about human trafficking as part of our “World Challenges” course theme/unit in our AP Spanish course. This work was particularly relevant to my students because we all learned that some Spanish-speaking countries (which reflect the heritage of the majority of my AP Spanish students) have some of the most vulnerable populations for human trafficking,” commented Jeremy Hillyard, Spanish and ESOL Mathematics Teacher, at Easton High School.

“Examining what challenges exist not only in our country but across societies by analyzing causes and potential solutions really increases the importance of this work from a critical thinking, academic perspective. Furthermore, helping individuals recognize the signs of possible human trafficking, understanding the factors and/or strategies that traffickers use, and how to get help if it is needed emphasize the message that all human beings are valuable and supported by each other in the most critical of times. The project was also a very effective way to reinstate everything we have learned and also do our part in spreading awareness,” he added.

In reflecting upon the project, one of the students in the AP Spanish class acknowledged that people will sometimes sugarcoat things and that she appreciated that this art project and presentation was able to present the topic gently while still revealing its harsh truth.

Other activities by For All Seasons during Human Trafficking Awareness Month included a free Human Trafficking 101 presentation to Washington College and the Kent County Community and collaboration with Life Crisis Center (Lower Shore Regional Navigator) to provide a virtual training for the Department of Social Services (DSS) staff on Maryland Child Sex and Child Labor Trafficking legislation and reporting requirements.

For All Seasons has provided proclamations to local governments in each of the counties on the Mid-Shore and has engaged individuals, nonprofits, and local businesses in the Red Sand Project to support Human Trafficking Awareness.

For All Seasons provides the highest quality mental health and victim services to children, adults, and families across the Mid-Shore and throughout the state of Maryland. Services are offered in both English and Spanish and include therapy, psychiatry, victim advocacy, 24-hour crisis hotlines, outreach, and community education. For information about For All Seasons walk-in hours, contact For All Seasons at 410-822-1018 or visit ForAllSeasonsInc.org.

Caption: On display is one of several original artworks created by students in the Easton High School AP Spanish class illustrating what they learned about human trafficking.