It's low risk and high yield, picking up girls at the mall or at the bus stop who had words with their parents before storming out of the house. An outreached hand offers to help. "Poor thing," says the friendly girl, "let me buy you something to eat." And within 48 hours, that middle schooler, who is often between the ages of 11 and 14, has been gang-raped, drugged or transported to another state and is being sold on the street or in a car or in a brothel, recruited by a "big sister" friend who has just brought a young girl into her pimp's stable.

But never assume that the pimp is necessarily a male. The United Nations reports there are more female traffickers than male.

"This isn't just happening in the cities," says Jeanne Allert, a Howard County resident who heads the Maryland Rescue and Restore Coalition, which educates Marylanders on human trafficking. "Girls are coming from the counties. And in our country, we have an embarrassing number of throwaway children. There's an appetite for young victims, and the U.S. is the number one consumer of human beings. The demand for younger and younger sex slaves is forcing this business."

Every day, more than 2,000 children are reported missing, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the number of 10- to 17-year-olds involved in commercial sexual exploitation in the United States each year likely exceeds 250,000. Sixty percent of these victims are runaways, throwaways or homeless. The average age to enter prostitution is 12, but the U.S. victim is disproportionately 17.

At the moment, Allert and Denene Yates, who founded the Safe House of Hope in Baltimore, are talking with 15 students at Frederick Community College, which is one of 14 Maryland colleges that's been hosting anti-human trafficking rallies for the past two months.

"People need to understand that Maryland has some of the weakest laws in the country on human trafficking," says Yates, pointing out that it was not even a crime here until October 2007.

"Many of the clients I know haven't finished ninth grade," Yates said. "So who are they going to go to? How many people are in their world? Most of the girls are allowed to sleep from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. They're told they are only good for making money for sex."

The United Nations estimates there are 27 million sex workers worldwide, bringing in more than $34.5 billion yearly. Sex slavery is mobile, and Maryland's Interstate 95 corridor, I-70 and I-81, take that mobility to a science. Those arteries allow quick jumps from city to suburbs with great discretionary income such as Howard, Montgomery and Anne Arundel counties. "There are four brothels within walking distance of my house," Allert said. "Stopping them is like trying to catch Jell-O."

Brothels, says Allert, are set up in strip malls, nail shops, apartments. And, of course, there are online hookups.

"I can order a boy today, give a hair color, height. I can fly into BWI, pick him up, take a shuttle to a hotel, do my business and fly out," Allert said. "Everything is mobile."

Allert added: "The question is simple. Do you want to live in a society where your daughter believes her worth is her body?"

On Saturday, April 21, from 2 to 4:30 p.m., the Howard County Women's Commission and Advocacy Group Against Slavery and Trafficking (AGAST) will hold a program called Modern Day Slavery: Human Trafficking and Sex Exploitation, at the Bain Center, 5470 Ruth Keeton Way, Columbia 21044. Allert, Yates and a Howard County police officer will speak. Del. Liz Bobo will give the results of six human trafficking bills that have come before the legislature. A documentary produced by Truckers against Trafficking will be shown. For more information, call 410-313-6400.

Click here to see the article on explorehoward.com

Non-profit Samaritan Women is launching a CSA from its urban farm off of Frederick Road. By Penny Riordan, Catonsville Patch

Catonsville residents interested in investing in a seasonal supply of fresh produce now have what may be the most local option available: a farm in West Baltimore roughly a mile from the city-county line.

In the past few years, the non-profit Samaritan Women has been slowly expanding the acreage it uses to farm. This year the organization is launching a CSA, which stands for Community-Supported Agriculture.

For $600 from May to October, members get a box of produce every week that has been grown with organic practices on 2.3 acres of land off of Frederick Road.

The Samaritan Women was started in 2007 by Jeanne Allert, who had a vision for the land to be a home for women in crisis. In 2011, the group realized that dream, opening a Victorian home built on the property in 1893.

Sharon Runge, director of devleopment and a Catonsville resident, said the farm had also always been part of the vision.

"Since we had the land, it seemed the perfect use for it," Runge said. "I think people are excited about [the CSA]."

Regular visitors to the Sunday Catonsville Farmer's Market may remember a produce stand that was run by the Samaritan Women's former farm manager, Roy Skeen. Skeen used to ride his bike several miles uphill west on Fredererick Road with the produce in tow. 

Since then, farm manager Ben O'Donnell has taken over and expanded the farm.

While the farm is not certified organic, the farmers use organic practices and do not use pesticides, O'Donnell said. 

The 2.3 acres of farmland set atop a hill in West Baltimore is believed to be the largest farm within the city limits. While the northern section of the property borders densely populated city streets, the southern and western border are thick with forests. Workers had to install a solar-powered deer fence to protect the crops.

Thanks to a mild winter and a new green house constructed last year, workers have harvested some arugula and spinach already. Inside the green house there are rows of spinach, arugula, sugar snap peas, romaine lettuce, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes.

Fruits and vegetables grown on the land include broccoli, zucchini, carrots, watermelon, cantalope, tomatoes and butternut squash. The land will also eventually include orchard trees.

The CSA is meant to be a fund-raiser for the organization and organizers are planning on partnering with other non-profits in Baltimore city to provide free CSA shares to families in need.

Organizers envision offering cooking classes and workshops on eating healthy to the families who are part of the CSA for free.

While the women help with watering and othe chores on the farm, a bulk of the work is done by the small farm staff and dozens of volunteers.

Churches in Catonsville have been volunteering for several years, including Christian Temple, Salem Lutheran Church and Catonsville Presbyterian Church. Many restaurants have also donated items for years, including Atwater's and Ship's Cafe.

There are 25 slots available for the CSA, which will start in the first week of May. Half shares are also available for $300. Produce pick-up will be on Friday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. at the farm.

For more information, emailfarm@thesamaritanwomen.org, call 410-599-8704 or CLICK HERE to order online.

Click here to read the article in the Catonsville Patch.

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Read the full article on the Catonsville Patch website.

On Friday, March 2, Bon Secours Hospital unveiled a new, 75 foot, floor to ceiling mural in its dining rooms.  The mural is a small world Catonsville story.

Catonsville resident, Joan Plisko, became involved with The Samaritan Women through her role as co-chair of the Grants Committee of the Catonsville Women’s Giving Circle.  Plisko and Grants Committee co-chair, Siri Svaeren, attended The Samaritan Women’s gala find-raiser last year where Plisko bid on and won a mural painting by artist Kirk Seese.  That evening, Plisko also had a conversation with hospital CEO, Dr. Samuel Ross, about Bon Secours’ efforts to serve more healthy food and to promote community gardens in vacant lots, work that she had been aware of through her professional role as Technical Director of Maryland Hospitals for a Healthy Environment.

Plisko decided to donate her mural to Bon Secours to further inspire healthy eating and gardening in the hospital’s West Baltimore community.  The mural covers the three room dining area at Bon Secours and depicts scenes of community gardening:  preparing the earth, sowing and growing, and harvesting the bounty.

Among the almost fifty people who gathered to see the unveiling of Plisko’s mural donation were fellow Catonsville Women’s Giving Circle members Almarie Wood, Siri Svaeren, and Meg Tipper.

Wood, who is Program Director of the Annual Campaign for Bon Secours Foundation, commented, “The urban farming theme of the mural helps to drive home the ideas of eating locally produced food and making healthy food choices. Bon Secours continues to be a force in the West Baltimore neighborhood and strives to bring health and wholeness to the community in a holistic manner.”

For Plisko, “The mural represents a convergence of my professional and personal lives.”  Her passion for her work with the Catonsville Women’s Giving Circle and The Samaritan Women, her love of gardening, her belief in the power of urban farming to transform a community, and her profession with Maryland Hospitals for a Healthier Environment, all came together in the mural.

In a final connection to wrap up the story, mural artist, Kirk Seese, will be putting aside his paintbrush for a while to become the Greenhouse Manager for the community garden at . . .  The Samaritan Women!  Look for their produce this summer at the Catonsville Farmers’ Market.

Both guests will be speaking at the Women of the World Conference taking place in Baltimore March 2-4 at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

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COLLEGES ACROSS MARYLAND RALLY  AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING

College students in Baltimore city and seven surrounding counties to gather this spring to highlight US Human Trafficking with the conviction that

“My Generation Will Be Free.”

Throughout the months of March and April 2012, fourteen college campuses will be hosting anti-human trafficking rallies.  These are student-led activities that will take place over the course of a week, including a wide variety of expressions to bring awareness to the issue of modern day slavery.  Student groups are assembling speaker panels, immersion experience tents, documentary screenings, a Fair Trade fashion show, student-created performances,  information booths from local NGOs, videos, social media events, art exhibits, spoken word events, and advocacy efforts, all in an effort to Educate, Enrage and Engage the next generation.

Participating schools will host their rallies according to the following schedule:

5 March              Towson University

5 March              Morgan State University

19 March            Stevenson University

19 March            Howard Community College

26 March            University of MD Law School

27 March            University of Baltimore

2 April                 University of Maryland Baltimore County

9 April                 Frederick Community College

9 April                 Anne Arundel Community College

9 April                 McDaniel College

16 April               Johns Hopkins University

16 April               University of Maryland, College Park

24 April               CCBC-Catonsville

30 April               Loyola College

A detailed schedule of the activities planned for the various locations can be found at www.marylandcoaltion.org. The rallies are being hosted by The Maryland Rescue and Restore Coalition, a state-wide anti trafficking effort. In 2010 the Coalition was designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the Maryland liaison and became a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s national anti-human trafficking effort, the Blue Campaign. The Maryland Rescue and Restore Coalition’s work includes public awareness, prevention, intervention, advocacy and aftercare, working specifically through communities of faith.  These rallies are funded through a grant from the Petit Foundation and several Maryland congregations.

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Contact:  Jeanne Allert  at  443.858.7796 or jallert@thesamaritanwomen.org

For more information about the Bob Woodruff Foundation, visit www.ReMIND.org.

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