Survivors Alliance for Growth and Employment
Welcome to the Survivors Alliance for Growth and Employment (SAGE)! We are an organization in Pennsylvania (nonprofit status pending) whose focus is providing employment and vocational training to human trafficking survivors in a trauma-informed environment. Recognizing the therapeutic qualities of working with animals, our first venture is to open a dog kennel where mentors will work alongside employees in caring for and boarding canines. Here they will learn valuable skills, gain experience, and benefit from their work with dogs, eventually getting to a place where they are better qualified to either be promoted within or seek further full-time employment elsewhere. This will be done through a program that provides not only employment, but also multiple types of mentorship, case management, and employment readiness classes, so that upon graduation the survivors have the skills, support system, and healing they need to embark on a successful path.
Our leadership team is made up of a variety of professionals whose experience combines perfectly to develop this program; we have individuals who have personally worked in residential settings with human trafficking survivors, business gurus, and those who have ample experience with dogs. Another member of our team is herself a human trafficking survivor and has been invaluable in providing insights and helping to develop our program. We want to make a difference and recognize the gap in employability of those individuals who have been trafficked, along with which typically comes addiction, a criminal record, and trauma. Our team is trauma-informed and will mentor each individual employee, leaving room in our procedures for growth and developing healthy working habits while being understanding of where the employee is at in her journey to recovery and stability. We fully expect to have tough conversations while providing grace and understanding along the way. Fortunately, of those survivors our team has worked with, working with animals is a top choice for employment, and the scientifically proven benefits of interacting with dogs provides a unique and ideal environment for these women.
Our model will be Christian-based but will respect the belief systems of our employees. We will follow a strengths-based model where we focus on building up individual strengths, and all leaders and employees will be considered contributors whose ideas and decisions will be equally respected. We will be regularly providing both formal and non-formal feedback to our employees, using research-based assessments and requiring employees to also self-evaluate themselves, with the goal of continually self-improving. At this point, the only thing holding us back is the funding to get things underway. We appreciate any and all contributions to making this a successful venture for some incredible survivors!
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