NIGHTLIGHT INTERNATIONAL

NightLight seeks to offer intervention to sexually exploited women and children, to enable them to discover their dignity, and to provide a program of holistic transformation, empowering them to live and work in their community. We do this by building trusting relationships with individuals in the sex industry, offering dignifying alternatives and helpful resources. Our programs provide assistance and intervention to both national and international victims in both Thailand and Missouri.

NightLight's goal is for every woman to know she is worthy of love, worthy of dignity, and worthy of freedom, and to see women who have been abused and exploited brought into a place of freedom, full restoration, and empowerment.

SERVING THOSE WHO'VE FALLEN THROUGH THE CRACKS
We are passionate about serving those who have been forgotten, those who have been overlooked, and those who might normally seem too difficult. Rather than shrinking back from the challenges, our heart is for any victim of sex trafficking or exploitation that crosses our path.

INTENTIONAL OUTREACH AND COMPASSIONATE INTERVENTION
We search actively and strategically for individuals in need of assistance. Our ultimate goal is not only to demonstrate love and affirm dignity, but also to offer a hand out of the exploitation and into a restored, purposeful, and transformed life.

HOLISTIC RESTORATION
We believe strongly in holistic restoration, recognizing that the issues are complex and that true transformation and healing come with time and attention to the whole person, their family, and their community. Holistic restoration addresses the spiritual, emotional, physical, economic, social, familial needs, and the many complex pressures that contribute to a person's situation.

SPIRITUAL AND PRACTICAL CARE
We are passionate about understanding and meeting both spiritual and practical needs. We engage in relationships in order to learn and meet both types of needs.

OUTREACH
The NightLight outreach team in Bangkok maintains a presence in the red-light district of Nana Sukhumvit, building relationships with women and children, and offering them a way out of their situation. In Bangkok, the NightLight outreach team meets hundreds of women and children every year through bar visits, street-level interactions, beauty shop outreach, and medical clinics.

The NightLight outreach team in Missouri pursues relationship with women in the commercial sex industry to show them love and recognize their dignity. NightLight volunteers meet women who are working in commercial sex industry establishments, as well as women who are soliciting (or being trafficked) online.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING & EMPLOYMENT
In Bangkok, women receive paid vocational training and employment through NightLight Foundation and NightLight Design. Women can work in a variety of areas, including jewelry, apparel, screen-printing, baking, our coffee shop, and our childcare center.

HOLISTIC RESTORATION
NightLight in Bangkok offers emergency shelter and crisis intervention (as needed), childcare, life skills training classes, educational scholarships, and spiritual development opportunities. NightLight in Missouri offers personalized Case Management and Mentoring services, building relationships as we assess needs and offer services or referrals. Services may include helping to secure shelter and basic necessities, counseling, legal services, medical care, spiritual development, employment, and much more.

SHELTER & REPATRATION
NightLight in Bangkok provides rescue and emergency relief for women and children at risk in the Nana/Sukhumvit area and engages in local and international advocacy on behalf of women and children working in the sex industry. NightLight partners with both governmental and non-governmental organizations for safe and successful repatriation of each woman.

COFFEE SHOP
In July 2014, NightLight in Bangkok began a coffee shop to be a presence of light and hope in the midst of the red-light area. We partner with The MST Project (Men and the Sex Trade) to offer friendship and alternative entertainment options to other members of the community, including sex tourists, local business owners, etc.

AWARENESS & EDUCATION
NightLight Missouri fosters awareness on the issue of sexual exploitation through community events and collaboration with other local organizations. We also share our expertise upon request at professional and sector-specific training and events.

Over NightLight's history, we have offered messages of love, dignity, and hope to thousands of women working in the sex industry. Currently, we employ approximately 40 Thai women who formerly worked in the red light district in Bangkok, and have been able to provide care and scholarships for many of their children as well, breaking the cycles of poverty and vulnerability that pave the way for exploitation. We've served and repatriated well over 100 women who have been trafficked into Thailand from other countries, and have connected them with organizations and support in their home country. Our team in Thailand has developed close working relationships with local law enforcement and is currently making huge strides in pursuing and prosecuting traffickers.

NightLight Missouri operates primarily from our office in Springfield, but our efforts extend in various
capacities throughout the state. We are able to provide tangible resources and relational support to
women in the commercial sex industry and to survivors of sex trafficking through our three core
programs: outreach, intervention, and restoration. Our Missouri office also houses the administrative
headquarters for NightLight International, and our US sales and distribution arm for NightLight Design,
the freedom business that supports employment of more than 30 women in Thailand.

Perhaps more important than NightLight's own progress is the progress of the individual women we serve. Their stories inspire us and change us. Their stories are what make all of this work worth the effort. They are the reason we do what we do, and they are worth it.

"You have no idea the impact you have had on my life. If you hadn't met me so long ago, I would probably, quite literally, be dead. Now I get to do all the things I've always wanted to do." -Laurie, Trafficking Survivor