As a mother and as someone who works with young people in our community, I was gutted to hear the recent story in the news about 10-year-old Sammy Teusch, a fourth grader at Greenfield Intermediate School in Greenfield, Ind. Sammy died by suicide after bullying, and according to his parents, was bullied right up until the day he died. Nearly 200 people – most of whom never met the blond-haired boy with the big smile – showed up to his funeral this week.

Park Place held its annual Derby Party on May 24 to raise funds for residential services for unhoused teens.

Residential Director of Tharros Place LaToya Scott talks about the services they provide to the area and how you can help support their mission.

Click here to see the photo gallery from the Tharros Place Cocktails for Courage fundraiser.

Tharros Place opened its doors to young victims of human trafficking just a couple of months ago and is already making an impact in our community. Julie Wade is the executive director of Chatham County’s residential shelter for girls between the ages of 12 and17. She has the details on one of their biggest fundraising events yet that’s coming up next week.

This letter is from Julie Wade, the executive director of Tharros Place, a residential facility for girls, ages 12 to 17, who are survivors of human trafficking.

Tharros Place Board Chair Marsha Buford gives full details on the upcoming “Cocktails for Courage” fundraiser set for January 26th at Cohen’s Retreat.

About ten years ago, I saw firsthand the impacts of human trafficking in our community and just how ill-equipped we were to handle it. A (police) sting on a human- trafficking ring landed two young girls – around 12 and 13 years old – in a local emergency room for evaluation. Over the next 36 hours, these frightened and victimized girls were re-victimized by the very system that was supposed to protect and help them.

The month of January is nationally recognized as Human Trafficking Prevention month. Friday morning, the Chatham County Commission will be recognizing it by giving a proclamation to Tharros Place, a local organization that combats the human trafficking of teenagers.

The month of January will now officially be known as Human Trafficking Awareness Month in Chatham County. The local designation was approved by the Chatham County Commissioners earlier today.

The Chatham County Board of Commissioners issued a proclamation Friday supporting a local non-profit dedicated to preventing human trafficking and officially declaring January Human Trafficking Prevention Month in the county.

Tharros Place, a nonprofit that provides residential services for survivors of human trafficking, announces a number of events upcoming in January for National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, a presidentially designated observance designed to educate the public about human trafficking and the role they can play in preventing and responding to human trafficking. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ theme for Human Trafficking Prevention Month 2024 is Activate Connections to Prevent Human Trafficking.

Executive Director of Park Place Outreach Adriana Tatum Howard talks about how you can help support their mission this holiday season.

Savannah is a major sex trafficking crossroads in the Southeast, but not because of the city’s proximity to I-95 and the nation’s third-busiest international port. Instead, experts say a high poverty rate and lack of resources ensnare Savannah teenagers and young adults in the illegal sex trade.

To counter that trend, a new nonprofit, Tharros Place, this week opened a 12-bed shelter for survivors of trafficking and at-risk youths. Residents will spend up to a year at the home and will receive recovery services, including therapy, schooling and life skills training.

Tharros Place is getting closer to opening its residential facility for girls, ages 12 to 17, who are survivors of human trafficking. Next week, the first residents will start moving into the local nonprofit's facility in western Chatham County.

Keith F. Miller's debut novel “Pritty,” published by Harper Collins, which states that the book, “follows two boys who get caught in the crossfire of a sinister plot that not only threatens everything they love but may cost them their own chance at love.”

November is National Runaway Prevention Month. Each year, nearly 1.5 million children and adolescents leave their homes unaccompanied. According to studies at the University of Chicago, young people most often run away due to family conflicts, abuse, or neglect. They often fall into the hands of someone professing to love them. That’s not just having an “older boyfriend” though, it’s child trafficking… and it’s not a problem only foreign children face, these are Chatham County girls.

November is National Runaway Prevention Month. It’s a call for organizations and youth ambassadors across the country to raise awareness of the youth homelessness crisis and to educate the public about the role we can all play in preventing and ending youth homelessness.

Simply Savannah Marketing and Ardsley Station hosted its Sips at the Station Fundraiser for Park Place Outreach today.

Not a coming-out story, the novel “Pritty” is set in Savannah and follows the journey of two Black boys who are navigating how to love one another as well as themselves.