Non-profit ‘Awaken’ hopes for grant to help fight local human trafficking

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - The Brown County Board of Supervisors is set to vote next week on a $20,000 donation request to combat human trafficking.

If approved, it would be used by a Green Bay non-profit organization focused on raising awareness on the issue. Both are preparing to take precautionary measures ahead of the influx of visitors for the NFL Draft in Green Bay.

It’s national human trafficking awareness month and while the non-profit ‘awaken’ works year-round to educate people on the matter, they are hoping for funding to spread more information before the draft.

Awaken reached out to former host cities for the draft like Detroit and Kansas City on what steps they took to raise awareness.

Executive Director Kaisa Klaus says presentations to local businesses in Green Bay districts play a big role in calling attention to the cause.

“We would be targeting hotels, restaurants, bars individuals that might be on the frontlines of being able to identify this victimization and we want them to be prepared on what to look for but then also know what do I do if I see this situation,” said Kaisa Klaus, Executive Director, Awaken.

The board is expected to vote on January 15.

This story was updated on January 10, 2025. In WBAY’s original story, we reported inaccurate human trafficking statistics and erroneously attributed them to the Green Bay Police Department. Those inaccurate numbers came from a secondary source and were not independently verified with the Green Bay Police Department. We apologize for this error.