Hope Found of Northeast Arkansas hosted the Brewing Hope coffee event Saturday, Nov. 8, at the Arkansas State University Judd Hill Farmers’ Market to raise funds and awareness to combat human trafficking.

The event gave visitors a chance to sip on various coffees from local roasters and discover new flavors. Participants voted for their favorite brew in the people’s choice competition. Other vendors, including bakeries and chocolate shops, were present too.

Hope Found set up a table to educate the community on human trafficking. The organization also featured a virtual reality experience through an app called Trapped, which allowed users to role-play as a 14-year-old girl trapped in human trafficking and learn about her story.

Megan Brown, Hope Found executive director, said they hope to serve more survivors of human trafficking. 

She said one of her goals was to highlight Hope Found as an organization while also recognizing the many coffee options in Northeast Arkansas.

“I really wanted attendees to learn about Hope Found and the work we do so that they could continue to support us and learn more about human trafficking, but I also wanted attendees to learn about different coffee shops in Northeast Arkansas so they could support them as well,” Brown said.

Human trafficking is the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain labor or commercial sex. According to the United Nations’ International Labour Organization, human traffickers victimize around 27.6 million people worldwide. 

Brown said she got the idea for the coffee event from a friend after attending a similar fundraiser in Cincinnati. When she returned, she said she thought it would be a great fit for Jonesboro because of the strong local coffee community that could support Hope Found’s mission.

Brown said community sponsors play a major role in helping Hope Found, assisting with legal support and other resources for survivors.

“When it comes to fighting human trafficking, you need everyone involved in order to put a stop to this injustice and to meet the many needs of someone who has experienced human trafficking,” Brown said.

Erica Parker, community educator for Hope Found, focuses on preventing human trafficking through presentations, training and community events across Northeast Arkansas. She said her role involves planning presentations, managing social media and setting up awareness booths.

“I’ve always had a heart for service and being able to make a difference in my community,” Parker said. “Around the time I was graduating from Arkansas State, I found this job listing, researched it, went in for an interview, and after that first interview, I knew that I wanted to be a part of this fight to end human trafficking.”

Parker said that while she does not have a personal connection to human trafficking, she knows it is a very real issue that many people overlook. She said she wanted to be part of the mission to educate the public and raise awareness to help keep people safe.

Ky Taylor, survivor advocate for Hope Found also works to end human trafficking in Northeast Arkansas through community education, prevention curricula and case management for survivors.

“We have tons of amazing law enforcement partners in all of the counties we work in, and they call us directly if they come across a survivor,” Taylor said. “We also do training with them, as well as with local churches and schools, on prevention and how to aid us as an organization and how to aid survivors on their own if they choose to do that.”

Taylor said Brown and four other women started Hope Found after realizing there were no advocacy or case management services for survivors of human trafficking in the area.

“A lot of times they were being shifted into domestic violence services, but they’re two separate things,” Taylor said. “So Megan started this organization from the ground up, and what has really fueled it is just a passion for our survivors. All the survivors we meet, male and female, are just amazing, smart, beautiful people. When we get to see them heal and start their own life and break those bonds with their trafficker, it fuels us to keep going.”

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