BRAVE, a program that aims to prevent human trafficking by empowering young women and girls, returned for its third year at the Willows Church and Family Life Centre in Langley City on Saturday, Feb. 25, on the first weekend after Feb 22, National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in Canada.
Seventy-five 18-and-under attendees, among them the most vulnerable and at-risk youth in the community, took part in the free one-day event.
Andrea Petkau, integrated mission supervisor at the centre, who has said girls as young as 11 have been targeted in Langley City, summed up the goal of the BRAVE program: “to keep girls safe in our community.”
To that end, the session offered presentations by community partners, including the Langley RCMP police and self-defence experts, to “educate on mental health, boundaries, relationship with self, relationships with others” and education about “local and global anti-human trafficking programs that raise awareness for our participants.”
Located at 5735 203rd Street, the Willows Church and Family Life Centre is run by the Salvation Army.
A post on the Salvation Army site described BRAVE as a “catalytic movement whose focus is to empower girls that come from vulnerable situations, with hopes to engage them before they potentially become victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking,” by providing vulnerable girls with “positive and uplifting messages of hope, love, value and purpose from speakers, artists, dancers and community leaders.”
“We’ve got their back,” Petkau told the Langley Advance Times.
“We believe in them. The dreams that they have, can come true.”
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Petkau said the first year, the one-day event drew 25.
“We started during the pandemic with a drive-through event.”
Last year, the first in-person BRAVE had 50 participants.
The BRAVE program also offers a Salvation Army-operated summer camp, which costs $200 and runs Aug 8-11 in Gibsons.
Other programs offered by Willow are the CAP (Christian Against Poverty) Money Course, RED CAP Anger Management for Kids, and TASK Anger Management for teens.
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Families can connect with Petkau by email andrea.petkau@salvationarmy.ca, or call 604-510-2628.
Visit thewillowschurchsa.ca for more information.
More photos from the BRAVE event can viewed online at the Langley Advance Times Facebook page.
Is there more to the story? Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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