Outreach

yogahOMe is proud to be a part of three outreach programs in our community: Project Yoga, Transitions Global Run for Shelter 5K, and SOAL Sisters. Here’s how you can help too.

Project Yoga

 

Project Yoga is a non-profit organization created to serve the inner city schools of Cincinnati the practices of yoga that foster self realization, greater awareness and heightened potential. Volunteers teach breathing, meditation, visualization and physical postures to strengthen physical health, mental clarity and spiritual well-being. Project Yoga is meant to bridge communities together in service to raise and heighten opportunities.

By The Numbers

• We are currently teaching 7 weekly classes at 4 Cincinnati Public Schools.
  Ethel M. Taylor
  Hays Porter
  Western Hills University High School
  Roll Hill
• We reach approximately 170 students each week with the intention of increasing this number as we grow.
• We teach children K-12, meaning all ages and all walks of life. Helping 5-year-olds learn to relax and breathe while also showing 18-year-olds ways to manage the stress and anger in their lives.
• We have staff of 7 permanent volunteer teachers and more than 15 volunteers that fill in and help in various other ways within the organization.

You Can Help

Project Yoga is a community effort! We need volunteers (yoga teachers, fundraisers, people to spread the word), donors (both monetary and in-kind donors of yoga supplies for the kids), and the involvement of Cincinnati yoga studios. For more information on how you can get involved in this rewarding program, please join the Project Yoga Group on Facebook.

Project Yoga also supports Project GRAD Cincinnati, a community-based nonprofit aimed at improving the success of urban school students to academically achieve, graduate from high school and enter and complete a college education. For more information on Project GRAD, see their website.

Transitions Global

yogahOMe is the 2011 Run For Shelter Title Sponsor and we couldn’t be prouder. Run for Shelter is a 5K road race and family carnival all rolled into one. This year’s race was April 16, 2011 at the Oakley Senior and Recreation Center in The Hyde Park Plaza.

Click here to see the 5k route

About Run for Shelter

Run for Shelter is a certified 5K road race and family carnival that benefits Transitions Global, an international non-profit organization dedicated to restoring the lives of girls who have been victims of sex trafficking.

Transitioning victims from slavery is a process, not an event. Transitions Global provides comprehensive aftercare services to girls between the ages of 13-19 years old who have been sexually trafficked, exploited, or abused. This is accomplished through a continuum of care consisting of psychological, social, educational, and health services, as well as, job training and placement, keeping the individual girl’s needs and desires at the forefront.

About Transitions Global

Transitions Global was founded as Transitions Cambodia, Inc. by James and Athena Pond in August of 2007. James and Athena have worked with survivors of sex trafficking since 2005 when they co-established the Agape Restoration Center (ARC), a high-security, long-term aftercare facility in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for Cambodian and Vietnamese victims of sex trafficking between the ages of 8-18.

After ARC was established, it became clear there was a critical need for more progressive services for older victims who needed to acquire adult, independent living skills, and viable, modern job skills to assist them in leading healthy and productive lives outside of these centers.

In October 2006, The Pond’s opened the Transitional Living Center (TLC) in Phnom Penh. Clients there range in age from 13-19 years old and come from other aftercare shelters, law enforcement, and direct referrals from human rights organizations.

We’ve developed a high-quality, results-driven shelter care model that responds to the primary issues facing minor victims of sex trafficking (MVST).  Our focus on rehabilitation and reintegration offers girls opportunities to heal from the past and acquire life, social and business skills that prepare them to function as healthy, independent adults. Our model proved to be so successful in its pilot phase in 2006 that organizations are asking Transitions Global to replicate this program in other countries.

After living in Cambodia for two years, the Pond’s returned to the United States in 2007 to establish Transitions Global as its own 501(c)3 non-profit public charity. In 2008, Transitions Global became aware of the need for aftercare services for American girls that have been sexually trafficked in the United States. As a result, Transitions Global began its Domestic Trafficking Initiative.

While continuing their work in Cambodia, Transitions Global has been instrumental in helping organizations in Greece and Indonesia in developing effective aftercare programs. In 2009, Transitions Global joined Crossroads in Cincinnati, Ohio to evaluate the state of aftercare in Mumbai, India. As a result, Transitions Global is in the process of establishing four new shelters in Mumbai over the next three years. These shelters will serve the needs of Indian, Nepalese, and Bangladeshi girls that have been sexually trafficked.

Learn more about Transitions Global by visiting www.transitionsglobal.org.

SOAL Sisters