BROWN COUNTY, Wis. (WFRV) – Brown County officials will reimburse a local nonprofit up to $20,000 to fight human trafficking when the NFL draft comes to Green Bay in the spring.

‘Awaken’ officials, the local nonprofit receiving this money, said this is a great win for the whole community. County officials approved the money unanimously and there wasn’t discussion before they cast their votes.

‘Awaken’ officials said $10,000 will go towards raising awareness and providing local businesses and nonprofits training so they can better identify signs of human trafficking. The other $10,000 will help them provide emergency services for survivors like food and hotel rooms as needed.

“This isn’t just an ‘Awaken’ issue it’s a community-wide issue,” said ‘Awaken’ executive director Kasia Klaus. “Everybody needs to be involved. We all need to be aware and know what’s going on in our community. It takes all of us to really address this issue.”

Brown County’s administration committee had previously recommended that the full board approve the money for ‘Awaken.’ At the county’s previous administration committee meeting there was a lot more discussion on the topic. Some supervisors in attendance at that meeting had raised questions particularly if this would set an unsustainable precedent where the county would have to approve money for any nonprofit that comes to them.

County supervisors who spoke with Local 5 News said between the administration committee meeting and the board meeting on Wednesday night, they got their questions answered and felt comfortable voting yes to approve the money.

During the public comment portion of the meeting on Wednesday night, one community member did speak in favor of approving the money for ‘Awaken.’

“I’m really encouraging you as someone who has grown up here, loves Green Bay, wants to see it succeed and is so excited about the draft, please support it this would mean the world to me,” said Madeline Vasiliev.

Supervisor Dixon Wolfe helped to introduce ‘Awaken’ officials to this funding opportunity. He said he campaigned on curbing human trafficking in his community so following through on this promise was important to him.

“I think it’s an issue that everybody cares about, it’s a humanity issue, we need to take care of the vulnerable populations in our communities,” said Wolfe.

“Awaken officials said large events like the NFL draft can increase the likelihood of human trafficking because so many people from all over the country will converge on Green Bay. More people naturally presents the possibility for more crime.

In 2023 (the last time statistics were available), the National Human Trafficking Hotline reports that it had 9,619 cases of human trafficking. One hundred nine of those cases were in Wisconsin.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security defines human trafficking as ‘the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.’ The national human trafficking hotline number is 1-888-373-7888.

‘Awaken’ has also partnered with other nonprofits to plan outreach and awareness training for the NFL draft. Klaus emphasized that this is all a team effort.

“We’ve all experienced similar devastating cuts to the grants we receive so the $20,000 is a huge asset and benefit for all of our local survivors,” said Jamie Craig who is the program manager for a local nonprofit called ‘Family Services Sexual Assault Center’ that partners with ‘Awaken’ to provide resources for survivors and awareness for the community.

The approval of the funding for ‘Awaken’ comes during National Human Trafficking Prevention Month which has taken place every January since 2010.

“Puts Brown County in a great position to be a lead in justice and human rights,” said Klaus when asked about the significance of the funding.