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Love 146 Vision: The abolition of child sex slavery and exploitation. Nothing less.

Love 146 Mission: Abolition and Restoration! We combat child sex slavery & exploitation with the unexpected and                                           restore survivors with excellence.

Why, What & Who: Love146 works toward the abolition of child sex slavery and exploitation through Prevention                                            and Aftercare solutions, and contributing to a growing abolition movement.

“Look good, feel good, do good. Tread on Trafficking 2010. This spring, put some purpose in your pace and and join Love146 in the fight against child sex trafficking while you shake off the winter blues and get ready for summer. From May 1st to June 30th, the miles you run, walk or swim can count towards a better life for victims of child sex trafficking.”

And I am joining in!

I generally don’t like to exercise but I love to do it for a purpose. And the purpose usually has to be more than “look good in a bathing suit” because they make suits to correct all your problem areas

Will you help me? My goal is to raise $500 for LOVE 146. If you are not familiar with this organization I highly recommend you visiting their website to learn more about their work to end child sex trafficking and exploitation.

Ways You Can Help:

1. Visit my donation page and make a donation to Love 146.  No amount is too small!
2. Fill out a donation pledge form and mail it in with a check. No amount is too small!
3. Post about Tread on Trafficking on your blog and ask your readers to support me! You can link to my donation page HERE.
4. Tweet about Tread on Trafficking and ask your followers to support me! Again you can link to my donation page HERE

Wouldn’t it be awesome if we WAY EXCEEDED my goal?!?!

And I couldn’t write a post about social work without mentioning my pet peeve. Social Work is a unique profession that requires specific training. A social worker has a degree in social work. If anyone calls themself a social worker but does not have a degree in social work – in Tennessee (and many other states) they are actually breaking the law. A degree in psychology, sociology or counseling is not the same thing and does not count. I love when I tell someone that I am a social worker and they respond by saying “oh, I took a few sociology/psychology classes in college” and then I say “that’s great – I took 1 or 2 as electives.”

Even though you may not have had the opportunity to interact personally with a social worker you have probably benefited in some way or another from their work. They help people access government services, work with insurance companies to access benefits, public guardians to those who are unable to care for themselves, run non-profit agencies that empower communities, influence governments to enact laws that protect citizens, advocate on behalf of the betterment for all people.

Want to see what some real life social workers do? CLICK HERE for NASW’s: One Profession. Countless Possibilities

And a shout out to my friend Amy who has been accepted at Columbia School of Social Work along with several others! Yay, I am so excited for you and hope your interview with Hunter goes well.

Our friends Kristian and Katy are perhaps the most “Jesus like” people I know. They live in New York City and work for non-profits yet they give more away in terms of possessions and time than anybody I know. They constantly had people living with them in their apartment – for various reasons like they were looking for an apartment. They lead small groups, serve at Apostles and many other places. They are humble, sweet and purp0seful in their lives.

Read their story here: http://kristiankatyrose.blogspot.com/2009/02/at-77th-st-subway-station.html

It made me cry. It challenged me to do more – right here, everyday, in the burbs.

We had a great time in Chattanooga for Thanksgiving. It was good to see most of our families and share Will with them. Although I was glad to get home so that I could hold Will again

Yesterday I went Christmas shopping for the first time this season. It only took about 3 hours for Will and I to get up, eat and get ready to go out! I’m sure that we’ll be able to cut this time down as we go out more and more. I was able to get a good start on our gifts and was able to get some great deals as well. I think one more afternoon and our Christmas shopping will be finished.

And thank Jesus for little miracles. Yesterday, Bill found some gift cards in a drawer that still had money on them. And most are for stores that we will be buying gifts from this season! Every little bit helps.

Are you looking for some unique gift giving ideas this year? These are some of my favorite charities that you can give to:

kiva.org – You can give someone a gift certificate that they then “loan” to a small business person in another country. I did this for my Dad last year. His loan went to a man who was starting a car shop. A small loan from many people help these entrepenuers start and continue their businesses and they pay back the loan over time. So, far about 70% of my Dad’s $25.00 loan has been repaid. When the loan is repaid you can either reloan the money or take the money out.

International Justice Mission – The IJM works all over the world to rescue children, women and men from slavery. They have a holiday gift guide that allows you to purchase: investigation, advocacy and aftercare. The lawyers, social workers and other workers investigate slavery, traficking, and oppression undercover carefully documenting what they see. Then, they use the local legal systems to represent victims to gain their freedom and make sure their abusers are held accountable. After the victims are FREE they provide services like counseling, job training, education and other social services.

AAA Women’s Services – They have two locations in Chattanooga and they provide education, ultrasounds, support groups, baby supplies and so much for women who are dealing with an unplanned pregnancy. Their office is located in the builidng that use to house an abortion clinic. So, when they first opened they were able to help many women who were looking for the abortion clinic. They are an amazing ministry that helps not only the women but also the men, boyfriends, husbands as well.

This is Dave Ramsey’s “Common Sense Fix” to the current economic crisis. Click on the link to read more about it. Forward it to your friends, family, co-workers and Congressmen. Obviously, the representatives in Washington are listening to the people – or the bailout would have already passed.

http://www.daveramsey.com/tdrs/index.cfm/2008/9/30/3-steps-to-change-the-nations-future?ictid=sml

In case you’ve had your head under a rock he was talking about the federal government bailing out yet another financial company – AIG. This time the federal reserve loaned AIG $85 billion and took over 80% of the stock (if I’m remembering correctly). So, basically we the taxpayers now own AIG. But I’m having a hard time figuring out exactly how this is going to benefit me. All I can figure out is that it’s not.

They are going to use my tax dollars to bail out a failing company and then when the company recuperates and is making trillions of dollars again – I’m pretty sure I won’t be seeing any of that money. Maybe I’ll start a business, make risky investments, and loan money to people who have no way of paying it back and then let the government bail me out

I am also confused about why everyone thinks it is such a great idea for the treasury and the world banks to pump about $180 billion in new money into the economy. It’s not going to help the everyday people. We are still going to bring home the same amount in our paychecks but everything will cost more!

In case you can’t tell – this financial thing has really gotten under my skin! I’ve been reading all about it and for the life of me can’t figure out why government bail-out is a good thing. I have been living under the impression for the past 24 years that America operated in a free market economy and democracy – not socialism.

But, at least I’m getting some interviews under my belt.

There are a couple of jobs I’ve begun pursuing today. One at Belmont University and the other at a nursing home in Brentwood. Both of these are part-time but they sound great.

I left for Albany on Thursday afternoon, the conference was all day Friday and then we took the train back to the city this (Saturday) morning. The conference was good – I learned some new things which is always nice

Tonight we are going out for BBQ with our friends Jay and Desiree – they are expecting a little boy in 1 week! Then we are going up to their apartment in Washington Heights for dessert. It should be great!

A big shout out to everyone who continues to comment on my blog – especially you Amy! If anyone else has a blog – I can add it to my blogroll and I read those blogs every couple of days!

***babydixon.com is now up and running – check out the blog!***

We are leaders in training for our Community Group. Which will be wonderful!

Bill has been excelling as a digital media public relations guru! At the end of February, he will be traveling for three days to North Carolina to help train 35 marketing and public relations experts at a multi-billion dollar business intelligence company. Bill is getting attention at his company for being a great Account Executive! Even the Executive Vice-President (EVP) has taken note of his work and his stylish wardrobe He was also given the “task” of picking out laptops for the digital media team and is now trying to convince the EVP that he needs a Mac.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I was able to spend several days at the United Nations the past couple of weeks. I attended the Commission on Social Development which was about improving the lives of all people through concrete actions. In particular, I attended sessions that had to do with aging policy. The sessions were about the Madrid International Plan of Action on Action and how regions and countries had implemented the plan to make cities more aging friendly. I am now serving as a United Nations representative for the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG).

I also have the opportunity to be involved in several other international aging projects. I am a member of the NGO Committee on Aging and helping to plan and implement the 2008 International Day of Older Persons to be held in October at the United Nations. I am also the U.S. Student Representative for the 2008 World Elder Abuse Awareness Day that will be held in June in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

At my internship I get to do a poster presentation at the National Association of Social Workers conference in Albany, NY. The conference is at the end of March and I’m presenting on how social workers can use blogging as a means of communication with other professionals and as a tool to inspire communities to action.

So, how is everyone doing on their 2008 goals? It has been almost 2 months are you following through or have you forgotten all about them? One of our favorite things to do is dance (if you can call it that) on Friday nights! During one of our dances we found a “theme” song for our lives. It’s corny and juvenile but our “theme” song is “REACH” by S CLUB 7. (I’m sure only Dana will know who they are!) It’s our theme song because it is all about reaching for the stars, following your hearts desire and being an achiever. But, it’s also about having someone who will always be with you as you are achieving your dreams! And setting goals is one way to “reach!”

Does anybody else have a theme song?

My presentation is titled: “Preserving the Profession through Thought Leadership: Bringing the Social Work Profession into the Digital Age.”It is about blogging as a way for social workers to recruit new professionals, connect with each other and inspire communities to take action. This is kind of an “out there” topic since social workers appear to be pretty technologically incompetent. But, if chosen, it might garner a lot of attention! That would be awesome! Good thing I have a lot of business cards!

I did a poster presentation in undergrad at the North American Association of Christians in Social Work Conference in 2005. That was a neat experience – showing off our work, making the poster, driving to Michigan.

My goal is that in 30-40 years field supervisors will be sending their MSW students to meet me saying “Google her before you go because this is an opportunity you don’t want to miss!” Being involved in organizations like the National Association of Social Workers, North American Association of Christians in Social Work, and the State Society on Aging will help me become a social work leader.

Until I hear, keep your fingers crossed that I will get to present at this conference!