Dr. Sandie Morgan is joined by Melissa Yao and Alexis Byers as the three discuss the role of technology in connecting survivors to services.
Melissa Yao
Melissa Yao is the Executive Director of the National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance, a network of service providers committed to enhancing services and increasing access to care for survivors of human trafficking, and sexual exploitation. She was a guest on Episode #220 of the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast.
Alexis Byers
Alexis Byers is the referral program manager at the National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance. She graduated from college in 2021, with a degree in political science, and a minor in security and Conflict Studies, and now she’s working on a master’s in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
Key Points
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Transcript
Sandra Morgan 0:00
You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast. This is episode #308: Streamlining Connection to Survivor Services With Technology.
Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast here at Vanguard University’s Global Center for Women and Justice in Orange County, California. My name is Dr. Sandie Morgan, and I’m your host. This is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. I’m excited to welcome Melissa Yao from the National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance. She was a guest on episode #220. We’ll put that episode link in the show notes, but if you’re looking for it right now, because you want to listen to it before this episode, then just look for #220. Melissa is the Executive Director of the National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance, a network of service providers committed to enhancing services and increasing access to care for survivors of human trafficking, and sexual exploitation. I want to emphasize ‘increasing access’ because that is what really contributes to empowerment. I’m also excited that Melissa brought a colleague with her, Alexis Byers. Alexis is the referral program manager at the Alliance. She graduated from college in 2021, with a degree in political science, and a minor in security and Conflict Studies, and now she’s working on a master’s in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. I want to actually emphasize my welcome and excitement about having you here, Alexis, because I believe it’s important for young people, just finishing college, to understand how quickly they can use their expertise to make a difference. So you’re both welcome and I’m glad you’re here.
Melissa Yao 2:47
Well we are thrilled to be here, Dr. Morgan, we’re very excited to share some success that we’ve seen in five years of facilitating a referral system throughout the US, in hopes that it can inspire others to find ways to help survivors overcome their trauma by finding the right place for them to recover. It’s all that we focus on, and we’re thrilled to be able to share some successes with your audience.
Alexis Byers 3:18
Thank you so much for having us. I completely agree that it’s so important to know that the minute that you do graduate from college, you do have the ability to kind of make a change almost immediately using the skills that you learned through school.
Sandra Morgan 3:33
That’s so great. Okay, so I’m excited to talk about how technology is improving access to resources. Especially because so much of the conversation lately has been about the harms of technology, but technology, the other side of the coin, brings amazing opportunity. So as the response to human trafficking here increases, the need for service providers to collaborate and stay connected is more important than ever. So let’s start, Melissa with some of the principles of NTSA. Tell us how you have basically developed three pathways to make a difference.
Melissa Yao 4:28
Great question, Dr. Morgan. I served in direct service with survivors for over seven years, and much like many of my colleagues listening to this podcast, became very disheartened and discouraged with the number of survivors that as they’re working towards overcoming their trauma, because the program wasn’t the best fit for them, often left and went back into the trafficking situation. I couldn’t help, years ago, think ‘What if they had been in a program that was a better fit?’ I can’t help but think of when you go to the Cheesecake Factory, let’s say you’re craving a burger, and you’ve got the Cheesecake Factory menu, and it is like a book. There’s so many options and it becomes overwhelming. We go there and we kind of default to maybe the first few things on the menu, when really, there might be some great hidden gems. But when you go to Five Guys, you know what you’re getting. Okay, Dr. Morgan, you’re in California, maybe I should have said In-n-Out? For those of you that haven’t had it, there’s a secret menu that I highly recommend.
Sandra Morgan 5:36
Actually, on the streets of Athens, Greece, when you go to a souvlaki place, you’ve got three choices. That’s it.
Melissa Yao 5:45
Yes. I wanted to move away from defaulting to asking agencies, “Do you have a bed?” and they offered so much more than just the bed. Some of these agencies are the Cheesecake Factory, they offer a holistic approach, and for some survivors, that’s what they need. They need high accountability, high structure, 24-hour superv...
