LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Teens and young adults experiencing homelessness can now get a brand-new outfit while learning about the dangers of sex trafficking.
Help of Southern Nevada partnered with Prevent Child Trafficking Vegas to create the first Vegas Cares Boutique, opening on Wednesday.
“It’ll be a safe, shame-free, and hopefully fun place where kids can feel encouraged and know that they really matter,” said Rhonda Sciortino with Prevent Child Trafficking Vegas.
This free boutique is only for the residents of the Shannon West Youth Homeless Center, which houses about 130 people experiencing homelessness, ages 16 to 24.
They’ll get to pick out four pieces of clothing — in different styles and sizes, and everything is brand new.
“Kids from hard places, most if not all of them have been in the position of sorting through a plastic trash bag for something to wear, and it’s wrinkled, it’s old, it’s somebody else’s clothes,” said Sciortino. “The idea here is to give dignity in this shame-free space.”
The boutique offers the same experience as shopping at a high-end boutique, with volunteers trained in trauma-informed communication and warnings about sex trafficking all around.
“There’s no cost, there’s nothing they have to do, and that’s the key because with traffickers, it’s transactional. You do this for me, and I’ll let you sleep at my place tonight,” said Sciortino.
“Every child everywhere is vulnerable to trafficking, but kids who are homeless and alone are the most vulnerable,” she added. “It’s so profoundly sad that this area is known as a place that people can come from all over the world and buy children, and it shouldn’t be that way.”
The Vegas Cares Boutique opens Wednesday and will stay open for the next few months.
The teens and young adults from the Shannon West Homeless Youth Center will have two shopping days a week to browse the boutique and learn how to avoid dangerous sex trafficking situations.
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