About Us
Who We Are
Inspired by 1st Corinthians 13:7 “It (Love) always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” we continue to deliver four pillar programs : child sexual abuse prevention, community education, Sharing One Love PBC and direct victim outreach and recovery.
Our Vision
Through the Gospel message and in collaboration with other organizations, we seek to eradicate sex trafficking and the root causes that fuel this human injustice.
Our Mission
Rescue Upstream serves Palm Beach County providing child sexual abuse prevention training, community awareness education and direct outreach to those living in sexual exploitation. We target reducing human trafficking vulnerabilities and increasing the recovery of those living in modern day slavery.
Our Core Values
Our Story
Rescue Upstream is a Palm Beach County faith-based nonprofit organization founded in 2013 as a church ministry, until 2020 when we became an independent nonprofit. Our background is rooted in raising awareness about the source causes of human trafficking and educating the community on prevention through training. This concept was expanded when we launched our Community Bridges program meeting and educating business owners and employees on trafficking indicators and action steps for reporting. Rescue Upstream led the development of Sharing One Love PBC and has expanded strategic collaborations with , USF’s BRIGHT Network program, and the Safe Shelter Collaborative. These initiatives provide a resource foundation for our direct victim outreach programs. Operating both on-line and on the streets of Palm Beach County, we seek to provide a bridge from hope to freedom for those living in sexual exploitation.
Today we focus on four key areas including:
- Sex Trafficking Victim Outreach-assisting local victims of sexual exploitation with an exit strategy
- Prevention- training for child sexual abuse prevention, a leading vulnerability exploited by traffickers.
- Business Community Awareness and Action- face to face engagement to enhance local reporting
- Strategic Alliance Development- expanding broad based resources to serve local victims through Sharing One Love PBC.
Milestones
Rescue Upstream (RU) launched as a ministry of Journey Church. The initial focus was on community awareness/education and child sexual abuse prevention training hosting large scale community events and trainings both on and off site.
Received Advocate training certification for Darkness to Light’s Stewards of Children Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Training.
RU partnered with Sharing One Love Media to launch Sharing One Love PBC (SOLPBC), a collaborative platform to facilitate community wide engagement for partnerships and professional pro-bono service providers designed to improve outcomes impacting the issue of human trafficking in PBC.
RU partnered with Tsvetelina Thompson, Survivor leader of Twentyfour-Seven to support expansion of community outreach program by including the distribution of a technology tool for both victim and public reporting in business locations.
Established independent corporation.
Established MOU with Palm Beach County Human Trafficking Task Force to work in victim outreach and identification.
Launched Internet/SMS outreach system contacting potential victims of sex trafficking.
Launched street outreach with undercover law enforcement, initially in one jurisdiction, then expanded to three separate groups.
Achieved 501c3 designation.
Recognized as a leading Non-profit by The Good News
Recognized for Outreach Program by the Human Trafficking Coalition of the Palm Beaches
Strategic Partners
