On 22 November, The Rotary Foundation APPROVED a $304,000 Global Grant submitted by the Rotary Club of Space Center, which was to focus on the child sex trafficking problem in the Houston Metropolitan Area. This result was the culmination of many peoples' (clubs, DGs, educators, community leaders, etc.) effort over the past several years.
In RY 2023-2024, the Rotary Club of Space Center, through the support of The Rotary Foundation and numerous Districts/Clubs, completed a $108,000 Global Grant (Pilot) Project to address Child Sex Trafficking in two counties of Southeast Texas. RI partnered with a Commercially Sexually Exploited Youth (CSEY) Advocate organization known as Unbound Now to test a 3-Tier Model of Training and Education, Early and Proactive Intervention, and Survivor Advocacy. This Model was shown, over the course of 10 months, to be comprehensive and cost-effective in addressing the problem.
Hence, in RY 2024-2025 a follow-on $304,000 was authored to apply the same model across the entire Houston Metropolitan Area. This latest grant (GG 2579105) was approved on 22 November 2025, and will commence execution in early 2026. This expanded 3-Tier curriculum will include:
a) A well-structured approach to provide training and education in schools*, hospitals, churches, law enforcement centers, and social service agencies, to help identify and respond to trafficked child victims;
b) A facilitation effort to intervene on behalf of children whenever and wherever it is suspected they are threatened or are being trafficked, and
c) Identify trafficked child victims and get them individualized survivor support services.
Note: This GG received funding support from 12 Districts and 20 Rotary Clubs from around the world. Succeeding at this multi-year project will enable this model to be extended to multiple cities and regions throughout Texas and the U.S.
*The plan is to have Unbound Now train Rotarians (volunteers) on a prescribed curriculum to educate high school students on how to recognize and report sex trafficking “groomers’ and their methods, and support fellow students who may be threatened. Any Rotarians interested in participating in this activity should contact Stan Galanski to discuss
options available.
options available.