It's Your Community - February 28, 2016

Vanessa interviewed Gerry Piro, executive director of Covenant House Michigan, about human trafficking and homeless youth in our community. Each year, in just the United States alone, there are as many as 2 million youth who experience a period of homelessness. Of those 2 millions, there are more than 5,000 of them who lose their lives to the streets every year. Covenant House tries to restore hope and promise for those who need someone to love and care for them. They talked about human trafficking and how it's not just a Foreign problem, but a it's happening in America too. Traffickers use various ways to trap victims and they often seek out one of the most vulnerable populations, which is homeless youth. Covenant House's mission is to serve suffering children of the streets, and to protect and safeguard all children. They also discussed how young trafficking victims can be helped at the 23 shelters across the Americas. Many of the children are hungry, tired, scared and almost always alone, with no family or parent to call who can care for them. For more information on Covenant House log on to www.covenanthousemi.org/.