May 20, 2025 • 46 mins
This hour of Mama Bears Radio I welcome Ashley Chesney, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Set Free Monterey Bay. This org has distinuished itself as a leading force in the fight against human trafficking... especially here on the Central Coast of Cali. From classroom education to community awareness to public trainings, Set Free Monterey Bay is an incredible community resource. They also assist adult women (ages 18 and over) sex trafficking survivors to find healing in a local restoration home. https://www.setfreemontereybay.org/
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
The California Mama Bears have been forced out of hibernation.
Fierce guardians of our future, Mama Bear's fight for parents' rights,
defense of the family, and God given freedoms everywhere. You're
listening to Mama Bears Radio with your host The New
(00:29):
Normal Kristen Hurley.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome back to Mama Bear's Radio, our number two here
on a beautiful Monday afternoon, safe and effective radio. I
might add, and so first hour, as I say with
my den cleaning, you can always catch my shows on podcast.
I upload them basically on Tuesdays to all the podcast
platforms Spotify or iHeart or Apple or wherever you get podcasts,
(00:56):
so you can catch the various hours if you miss them.
My usual den cleaning, My email's Mama Bears Radio at
gmail dot com. And that's m A m A Bears
Radio at gmail dot com. If you ever need to
get a hold of me, as I say, the microphone's
wide open. If there's something out there and now not
(01:16):
only open for Mama Bear's Radio, but for Ko and
Y in general. Anything out there that you think my
took all my interests, definitely send me an email, happy
to get in touch. Okay, well, this hour is all
about not about me. It's all about the set Free
movement and set Free Money Bay. And my guest and
studio today is Ashley Chesney, who's the executive excuse me,
(01:38):
let me get you up here, executive director and co
founder of Set Free Monterey Bay. Welcome to Mama Bear's Radio.
Thanks so much for having me. It's nice to have
I just appreciate so much that you took the time
to come up to the station. You're out of the
Peninsula area, so I appreciate when people come in person.
(01:58):
I think the conversations are a little more dynamic.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Yeah, we act like Santa Cruz and mone is so
far from me too, They're not.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
There are people that swim from the point down to
the peninsula. So cool surfer guys.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Okay, well, welcome.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
So I meant to read your bio or last hour
and sort of introduce you a bit, but now that
you're here in person, it's your hurt. Well, why don't
yeah take a few minutes and who are you and
how did you get involved with Set Free Money Bay?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Sure, well, I got involved with set Free Monery Bay.
We all kind of a bunch of us a handful
of US co founded in twenty eighteen, but really it
was sparked out of a Gospel Injustice event at a
local church, and my lived experience is really what brought
(02:51):
me to wanting to be part of some sort of
organization that was doing the work, and one didn't really
exist yet. I was past out gift bags in East
Salinas and just telling women they could have a different life,
because really God wrecked my life and in the best
way and gave me an a one and so I
(03:12):
wanted to share that with others and like for others
to experience freedom like I had. And at that event,
Felicia George was there amongst our other co founders and
our partner and sister organization, Eden's Glory. They they're located
in Illinois. And from that kind of that breakout session
(03:34):
of all like hearts and minds, came the magic.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
Yeah, the magic happened.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
And I was a survivor of trafficking and was able
to say that.
Speaker 5 (03:46):
And I think.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
The work that Felicia was already doing in the schools,
combined with these partners who are already doing this work
in a residential capacity, we really got the framework that
we needed to start set freemonto Bay and I don't
know if you know this, but housing costs a lot
of money, so.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Well, I just have so much money that I just
want to notice you.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Didn't know that issue that we're having in California, so
it took us quite some time to gain. The ultimate
goal was to have a residential program for survivors of trafficking,
and in the middle time of that desire and bringing
that to fruition, we spent a lot of time in
the schools, which we still do, and then just training
(04:35):
our community. How can we equip community leaders to know
what this problem is, to identify potential victims, to know
how to interact with this population. So I'll talk more
about what we do specifically there, but yeah, I've worked
every possible position within set Free, including volunteer and then
(04:55):
was the first paid staff in twenty twenty and when
we called our nonprofit stat and then stepped into the
executive director role in September of twenty two. So, okay,
making set for you a survivor led organization, which is
pretty neat to say, and I feel honored to be
in this space and semi that lens, Yeah, like the
(05:18):
I have a lived experience, right, but learning all the
all the skills needed to really be an ed and
be an efficient one has been a journey.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
And so here we are today, and.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yeah, well you know, if you're just catching on to
what we're talking about, I think saying modern day slavery
packs a punch. Human trafficking, Okay, yeah, you know, maybe
feels less like this is a disaster. It's it's a tragedy.
It's there's always been slaves, There's always been slavery over
(05:50):
the epochs and and whatever. We're gullible, culpable humans. I
just you know, and you're romassa for lack of.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
A better word, is almost a buzzword in today's media.
I think it's sensationalized. It's movies and videos and things
that we consume TV programs.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
They're based off of a loose reality.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
But honestly, human trafficking, modern day slavery, slavery can take
shape in many forms. You could line up one hundred
survivors and all of their stories and experiences would be different,
and it still falls under that umbrella. So really expanding
what we think we know about trafficking and really understanding
(06:38):
it encompasses so much.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
I agree, that's what I'm man was like, slavery has
a different connotation, and it's just more you feel a
little bit, you know, a little more silenced by that thought.
And it's everywhere, even in the most gentrified of you know,
expensive Christine coastal California, left coast elitist neighborhoods. Uh. It's
(07:08):
not just inner city, it's not just some other country
around the world that you can't pronounce.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
It's here on the Monterey Bay.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
I mean, that's why I like that you're a very
localized organization. Is in the beautiful Monterey Bay. The sun
is shining and like everyone's got their pretty little lifestyles,
but there's there's tragedy happening here and it's egregious. People
need to be educated, and especially our kids because they're
the especially vulnerable. So I don't know where we want
(07:36):
to start. If we want to start with set Free
just organizationally, like what do you guys do day to
day and you're you're in and you are you're out,
And then we can move into some of the education
that you bring in the classrooms for how to help
your how to have a conversation with your kids, what
the kids need to know.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Absolutely, yeah, just to touch on like the suburban, beautiful
California neighborhoods that the influence that we see. I grew
up in those neighborhoods, so I went to Pacific Grove
High School. For those that know, they're here in a county.
So human trafficking doesn't have boundaries. Can easily touch someone
(08:16):
who grew up like me and the child in foster care.
So I don't think that the house you grow up
in depend is dependent on whether you can be susceptible
to this crime. And that's not to scare parents or
to scare kids. That is so Felicia always says, that's
(08:37):
how we teach them to play defense. That's how we
expose things and talk about it and make it more
of a conversation so that when it's not if they're
approached online or in person, then we know what to
do next as parents, as friends, as safe adults, and
(08:57):
then also for our kids young people, to know what
to do next.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
So you know, I had I had three more hours
before you showed up. I was gonna talk about a
subject I like a lot about raising kids and letting
them explore. Right, there's a part to childhood where you
cannot helicopter parent your kid. You can't be everywhere at
all times and keep them sheltered with play.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
And there's many names for it, pre range.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Kids or risky play, or there's different ways to describe
letting your kids slowly grow on autonomy so that they
build a level of intelligence and intuition and they learn
life skills, you know, out on their own, little by little.
The story of the lady that let her kid take
the subway home in Brooklyn or whatever.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
So there's that, but there's this.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Element to raising your kids and letting them broaden their
horizons and either be outdoors on the street play or
in other neighborhoods, or online on websites and in various
communication with people you don't know. Again, they there's a
distinction between letting it all go and let you know,
(10:14):
good luck to you kid, and helping them to be
savvy about the world. So maybe we should just launch
into that, like what what what are the statistics on
modern day slavery?
Speaker 4 (10:26):
You're human trafficking. I don't know if you have.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Local stats or numbers or California or nationwide.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
How's the number? Run some numbers, but US.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
This is a hard population to gather data on, right,
It's not like we are able to Yeah, they're going undetected.
People that are trafficked don't have a voice, and they're
definitely not filling out surveys for us to get this information.
So we get information when people call hotlines or they
enter programs.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
So I would say the numbers we.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Have are very conservative under yes, yeah, twenty eight forty
three million victims globally. See how wide range that statistic is?
Four hundred and three thousand in the US alone. I
will say more than half of those numbers are miners.
So this is affecting our children. Average age of a
(11:16):
trafficked individual in the US is twelve for our females,
nine for our males.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
Dang, nine for boys.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Hikes if somebody I think it's I don't know specifically
why that is, but I would if I had to guess,
it's easier to control a nine year old boy than
it is a twelve year old boy. Okay, in terms
of unerability, strength, sure mentality.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Yeah, they're still little kid.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Yeah, an kid at twelve, there's still a kid. Absolutely,
they don't think they're there might be some push off.
So yeah, those are some just like make your stomach
turn numbers. And then just for our area, we don't
really gets specific data unless it's like an online advertisement.
(12:07):
So how we see people being sold through Santa Cruz
and Money County is through websites known for solicitation, and
we're able to pull numbers from those websites where people
are purchased for sex. And any given day of the week,
Monterey County has about eleven hundred advertisements being posted. That's
(12:30):
kind of our baseline, wow, meaning roughly one hundred and
ten people being trafficked for imagining somebody sold ten times
a day.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
That could even be a lot.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
Well, and that's just like available online.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Yeah, if we have an event, right, that number doubles,
sometimes triples, so people being brought into our counties and
we see the overflowing into Santa Cruz County.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
If we have a big event, your numbers also go up.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Because they will move based on the tourism. They will
move victims to get money. Right, So if I am
done in Montere County, where do you think I'm gonna
go next? Trafficking is not necessarily about movement. People can
be trafficked to never leave their home. But if we're
talking about data specific numbers, we're looking at people being
(13:26):
trafficked for big events, for tourism. That's kind of like
a trafficking loop we see in California down the one
on one in the five the Bay Area to us,
the Central Valley to us. We're like this connecting point
for tourist events and for trafficking. So those are yes,
there's known websites for that.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
And again, yeah, it's like that is only the tip
of the iceberg that is visible.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
And how much don't we see?
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Yeah, that doesn't encompass familial trafficking or online exploitation outside
of the advertisements. Right, there's so much that we can't track. Right,
It's a population that's hidden on purpose.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Well, on that note, let's take a break here. I'm
really glad you're joining me today to talk about It's
a terribly difficult subject, but let's keep pashing through. I
really feel compelled that in this I said earlier, like
on the totem pole of national crisis, that every day
we wake up to it like this is just such
(14:37):
a pervasive problem, but it tends to just get ignored
and buried and feel like there's nothing we can do
about it right now. But I think awareness and education
about it is. You know, we're halfway there the more
we talk about it. All right, everybody, Well, this is
Mama Bear's Radio. Kristin Hurley here, my guest today, Ashley
Chesney from Set Free, Monterey Bay. We're talking nay slavery.
(15:01):
We will take our break and be right back.
Speaker 5 (15:06):
Mama Bear's Radio. We'll be right back.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Welcome back to Mama Bears Radio. Kristen Hurley here, gold
standard broadcasting. As we say, all right, we'll back to
the tough subject at hand. We're talking human trafficking, modern
day slavery. My guest is Ashley Chesney. If you're just
joining the show, She's from Set Free, Monterey Bay. The
(15:59):
trafficking have in our homes and in our backyards. It's
a pervasive, disastrous problem. And I, as I've said, I've
had my friend Felicia from Set Free on over the
years to talk about this, and Ashley's with me today.
Something we need to be educated about now. Somehow, the
good conversations always happen when the microphones are off. Ashley
(16:20):
and I off there during the break, we're kind of
chatting about a few things.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
I happen to mention.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Even my twenty one year old who's a pretty savvy kid,
got scammed the other day through a text that was like,
hey Danana, you have a traffic violation type in your
credit card number.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
We had to go cancel her darn card. It's easy.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
It is super easy because the internet scammers are sophisticated.
The it's a well oiled machine to reach kids online
and adults too, I might add, were all susceptible. But
we have to have conversations with our kids about what
they need to know when to come to you, like
(16:59):
when to have their suspicions up.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
And wild world out there.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Actually, So yeah, let's back up a little bit.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
We were going to.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Talk about education, how to educate our kids, how to
educate parents and by extension, your kids, on what even
goes on online?
Speaker 4 (17:17):
How do you get trafficked online? What does that look like?
Speaker 5 (17:21):
Well, digital trafficking is huge.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
I mean our young people anything with a chat platform.
So whether that's social media or or gaming or these
types of platforms. That's not to say don't use them,
it's just how do we use them safely. I want
to hear what the gamers are saying. I want you
not to be with your headphones on and it plugged in.
(17:47):
And if someone says something weird to you, will your
kids come to you? Because if that's the gap, then
we need to have more open dialogue with our kids.
Social media, there's celebrity he's talking about OnlyFans in these profiles,
and how you can make money for a weekend and
go buy something expensive like that's attractive to our young people,
(18:08):
you know, especially young people who don't know their worth.
And so how do we talk about these things and
call them out for what they actually are. I think
something really big right now in the online world that really.
Speaker 5 (18:21):
Affects our youth. It can affect adults too. But is sextortion?
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Where can I just give you a kind of like
a case study, and so that I helped. This is
probably the most extreme version, but it'll paints the picture.
A young girl without a private account started chatting with
somebody online and so now this person who's posing to
be someone her age knows everything about her before they
(18:48):
even start chatting, her school, what her family looks like,
her best friend, what sports she plays, so they have
a lot in common when they become friends online and
they built reports were and then send me a picture, right,
send me a picture in your bra. You know, the
youth sometimes make choices that are not the best choice.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Seems perfectly rational, but I so at that.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Point that the unsafe person revealed I'm not who you
think I am, and if you don't continue to send
me this content, then I will leak this to your
school and your parents because they have that information, right,
and that the shame of that for this young lady
was so great that she continued to interact.
Speaker 5 (19:33):
And engage with this person for three years.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
Dang.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
And then how old was she at the at the outsetel?
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (19:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
So then the materials, the photos, the videos are then
being sold. That's how this perpetrator is making money. And
instead of turning the phone over to a safe adult,
the shame was so great, the same person took her life.
And that's like a very extreme version of sex. We
see micro versions of that where the youth engages and
(20:05):
something happens and then they're like, send me two thousand
dollars and I'll stop harassing you. Right, these are kids,
they don't have that type of money, but that's if
she just would have had Maybe it's not mom and dad,
but maybe it's a safe adult who talked to her
about this, where she hey, this is happening to other
people too. There's also the National Center for Missing and
(20:26):
Exploited Kids has a take it Down website where if
youth upload pictures or videos, you know, make mistakes, this
website will take it down. Like there's resources for her
right and for others. So how sorry, that's just one
example of the online exploitation that's happening. But how do
we have these conversations and be ahead of it so
(20:46):
that like I harass and I was gonna say harass,
but harass in the best way my friend's kids and
they'll be like Auntie Ashley, someone came up to me
at Target.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
And I think they were weird, like, you know.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Like they already it's a weird person one day, not
to make them hyper vigilant, but oh we've already talked
about this and it's not scary because I have safe
adults in my life who talk to me about it.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
I think that when we have this open dialogue with
children with teens, with young twenty one year old daughters
that oh, okay, like mom knows what she's talking about,
and oh, this happened to a friend of mine, right,
And then they're looking out for each other because they're
having open dialogues with safe adults about it, they can
(21:35):
look out for each other too. Why do you have
the second social media account? What do you do on there?
Like they're asking their friends these questions like do you
think that's safe? Like things like that, where they can
be a safe person for a peer.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
That's actually the best way to spread it is let
it go peer to peer as opposed to talking down
to the you know kids, then you get the opposite effect.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
Sometimes, but.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Letting the kids that have it, you know, screwed on
street set an example for their peers that goes a
long way.
Speaker 5 (22:06):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
So what else?
Speaker 2 (22:08):
What else is instructive for parents or students, you know
in the set free program that would be taken into
schools or whatever. How how would you start out the
conversation with a classroom of students. Yeah, so we have our.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Own education curriculum that Felicia George developed originally and we've
since evolved and are in the middle schools and high schools.
It's actually California loss. So that's probably our first step.
If your child school does not receive anti human trafficking prevention,
it's ABE one two two seven, I believe is the bill.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
Ask your school, it's why they're.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Not receiving this education, and they should get it. One
time in middle school, one time in high school. And
when I do the presentation, I go in there with
like a beach ball and I kind of break the eyes.
This is not fun to talk about. This is not
fun for adults to talk about. So I just like
hit the kids with the ball. No, I ask them, like,
what do you know about human trafficking? If you catch
(23:06):
the ball? And it's okay if you know nothing, right,
and then we do it again at the end of
the presentation. So just like to be fun, right, because
you know, it's a room full of teenage boys. Half
of them are like so uncomfortable, and then the girls
are you could hear a pin drop, So how do
we talk about this again in a way that it's like, no,
like this is real and you guys raise your hand
(23:29):
if something someone has ever said something weird to you online?
Every hand half the class, right, yeah, at least, So
it's not that they're unaware. Our kids definitely know that
this is going on, but how do we kind of
expand their knowledge, not to scare them, but that it
could happen to them, like they are not invincible, and
(23:50):
that this can be access to like people in their community,
like their friends themselves, like are susceptible to this happening.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
And so we talked like what then, like if it's
all on their radar, but what do you do about it?
And probably that's the missing link is you know what's happening,
maybe on some internal level, but you don't know what
to do, how to take the next step to stop
it in its tracks or to whatever.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
And that's then you're down a path.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
And even if you're down the path right then like
creating safety plans for these kiddos, like hmm, that sounds interesting.
Maybe they don't identify with being traffic, but they're dating
someone that you feel is unsafe, Like what happens when.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
That person gets mad? Where do you go?
Speaker 3 (24:36):
Have them name three places they would go, have them
name three people they would call, you know, so that
you're basically creating this exit strategy without telling them they're
doing something wrong, you know, It's kind of that harm
reduction approach to making sure that they when they're in crisis,
that they might have somewhere to go and people to
(24:57):
call and they're not alone, versus saying, oh, you shouldn't
date that person, right because that doesn't been year old
just to screw you. Yeah, and then she could be
lost forever. So definitely just talking to the youth like
very real and very transparent. I think it helps that
(25:20):
I have my own story to be like, Hi, I'm
here and I'm a live person, So I think that
goes a long way to share what I wish I
would have done differently, or who I wish I would
have had in my corner.
Speaker 5 (25:37):
And then being that for.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
The youth, excellent, Well we got to take a break,
so much fun.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
Keep going and unpack there though, But.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
I think the key to it is just letting kids
trust their instincts and like you said, having having an out,
knowing that they're not stuck wherever they are. No words
for this, actually, so this is a tough convo to have,
(26:09):
but I'm glad you're here. So this is Mama Bear's Radio,
Kristin Hurley here, We're going to take a break. My
guest is Ashley Chesney from set Free Monterey Bay, and
we are talking about human trafficking under our noses in
our backyards around the Monterey Bay. And we will be
back in just a minute.
Speaker 5 (26:31):
Mama Bear's Radio.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
We'll be right back. You'll welcome back to Mama Bears Radio.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
Kristin Hurley here.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
And my guest this afternoon, Ashley Chesney from set Free
Monterey Bay. We're having a chit chat about human trafficking
what that looks like here on the Central Coast and beyond. So, Ashley,
you were saying, so set Free you have a three
pronged approach in your organization prevention, Yeah, prevent, awareness and restoration. Okay,
(27:32):
so we were kind of still under the prevention umbrella.
Maybe we'll finish that up a little bit and make
sure to get to the other two before the top
of the hour. So you're in the classroom with kids,
you know, you tell them your story.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
What's the reaction to that too? Do they have questions
for you?
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Do you feel like that that gives just a little
bit more impact to your connection with them?
Speaker 5 (28:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
I use a couple of different like media tools and
videos too, to for them to like digest it, don't
just stand up there and tell them the gory details.
So I think it like the others were like removed,
like people they don't know, and then I finish up
with mine, and so it's kind of like, oh wow,
like I know someone that this affected, even if it's
(28:25):
just I met them that day. It really depends on
the school side, if they're receptive.
Speaker 5 (28:32):
It's kind of an interesting thing.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
But yeah, I've had students come up to me after
and say or disclose.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
I was gonna say, does that open them up to
feel a little bit more free to say I had
this experience or what about this that's going on?
Speaker 3 (28:48):
Yeah, they shared like about like parents and or my
mom experienced abuse or or this type of thing where
they feel brave enough to tell me that. But during
the presentations, I always make sure like I have the
guidance counselor or someone available or aware that I'm giving
that presentation that day for them to have some sort
(29:09):
of outlet. Years previous, we've I've had teachers that had
her whole class right, like anonymous letters to myself, to
our team and just powerful right the things that I
think it gets there even if they act silly in
the classroom or like, I think they are thinking about
it because it's not some things, not an everyday presentation
(29:33):
that they get.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
So, yeah, it's a tough subject and you want to
kind of you get the church giggles. You don't want
to laugh it off.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Even if we're just planting a seat. I think that
what we're doing matters.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
Well, yeah, keep going.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Then I think, what are some other major points that
if you were sitting here with the classroom of kids today, like,
what would you really want to hammer home for them?
Speaker 3 (29:54):
Yeah, I want them to know their worth. You know,
we work with youth. I work with primarily system involved
youth who've experienced exploitation or trafficking through our county. So
step Free works with the under eighteen population in that capacity,
and I would much rather talk to a classroom of
kids that has never experienced something like that and teach
(30:16):
them what to do if someone approaches them, what to
do if they have a friend going through this, or
feel like I can equip them with the tools needed
to not have that happen to them. Then try to
convince somebody who's gone through a trauma like that that
they're worth more, you know, and so I think it's
(30:39):
really instilling them a sense of worth, really honing in
on like age appropriate relationships and what those look like.
I think talking with youth, you know, I remember being
a young girl and oh the older boy likes me.
Speaker 5 (30:53):
You know, all these things.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
But when it's an older adult, there's something wrong with them, right,
Nothing wrong with our youth who are going through a lot, right,
they're teenagers. They want to be desired. They the media
tells them all this stuff. They need to be sexy,
they need to be you know, all this this propaganda.
But no, like, there's something wrong with these people and
(31:19):
they're unsafe if they're are approaching you in this way,
And how do we teach them not to engage and
not to find that, not to take the bait and
those types of things. And I really can I really
think that comes with a sense of self worth and
like what are their peers doing and how are their
peers behaving?
Speaker 5 (31:39):
Because that can also.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
Go a long way, Like if you have a good
egg in there who really sets the tone and is
a leader, Like how cool is that that that friend group?
Speaker 5 (31:48):
Could there could be a shift in the friend group.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
And so I think a lot of that also, I
mean is dependent on I know, for my faith, Like.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
That's what kept me from going back to the life
of exploiting.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
So yeah, like I think that's missing in our world today.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
It is, it is, and it's the.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Self worth and bigger picture of course that few kids have,
you know, fifty years ago or one hundred years ago,
before pre internet, that already was kind of part and
parcel of maturing and you kind of have tunnel vision
as a kid.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
But I think that that is huge is.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Knowing that it's wrong for any adult that's not like,
oh he loves you. Oh he's sixteen and you're fifteen,
and it's.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
The older guy.
Speaker 5 (32:40):
Yeah that's fine.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Yeah, it's you know, if there's an adult that you
know that is wrong in any respect.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
And that for them to not feel shame or think
that there's something inherently right, yes, right, but for them
really to know like, oh no, that's not appropriate and
it that's not on me, you know, to really like
understand that concept can be hard for a youth. And
just like the desire to grow up, right, Like we
all want to be older than and it's like no,
like be a kid or be a teen and be
(33:13):
present in that season.
Speaker 4 (33:16):
So what does somebody do?
Speaker 2 (33:17):
So, say someone's caught up, they know what's wrong, they've
got someone on their tail online or something. How do
how does somebody report it? Where do they go besides
a safe adult or a parent or something like that?
Is is there a number to call or a website
or a hotline?
Speaker 4 (33:34):
Like what do you do?
Speaker 3 (33:35):
Absolutely, there's lots of hotlines. So the National Human Trafficking
Hotline is one of them. I do feel like they're
a little overloaded. There's another one called Rescue America. And
now an amazing organization called Safehouse Project just created an
app called Simply Report, So parents' kids, someone who's experienced trafficking,
(33:57):
anyone can download this app and they're trying to take
over the Human Trafficking Hotline and it's a way to
report and receive services talk to someone almost like you know,
if you're experiencing like suicidal ideation, you can call the
same type of thing. So I think just having those
like basic numbers in your phone or having this amazing
(34:18):
app that's could could do a lot.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Yeah, even a parent needs to know where to go,
Like say your kid comes to you, Well, now what.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
And I mean law enforcement, like at least a Monorey county.
We've had the opportunity to train all of the agencies
in Honoree County, so they should be able to show
you in the right direction or know what local NGOs
are available in your city or county. I think Santacus
County there's Monarch Services, they're Aruka Project, Like there's different
(34:47):
anti trafficking orgs and you want to know those local
ones right and then the national hotlines they do a
really good job in assisting survivors to get to where
they need to go.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Why don't we take our last break here, and then
we can segue into more back into your organization, Set Free.
How where are you guys in the community, how do
people where's your outreach? Like, what resources do you provide
for the community at large? And then we'll get into
events you've got coming up and how.
Speaker 4 (35:20):
People support you guys.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Okay, everybody, this is Kristin Hurley Mama Bear's Radio.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
My guess is Ashley Chesney from Set Free, Monterey Bay.
We are going to take our break and be right back.
Speaker 5 (35:34):
Mama Bear's Radio. We'll be right back.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Welcome back to Mama Bear's Radio. Wrapping up. It's a Monday.
Since I was just reminded, I still think my shows
on Wednesdays.
Speaker 4 (36:07):
Maybe I'll get back to Wednesdays some days.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Anyways, it's a lovely Monday afternoon and we are wrapping
up the Safe and Effective Radio show. Kristin Hurley Here,
my guess is Ashley Chesney Set Free Monterey Bay. We're
tackling the tough topic of human trafficking, so let's just
get back to set Free Monory Bay. Just in general,
So what you I'm super impressed. It's like you have
(36:32):
programs for classrooms, people that go in and struck kids
in the classrooms, and you've said a couple of times
that you work with law enforcement in the county to
help them be prepared to give them the resources and
education they need on their end.
Speaker 4 (36:47):
Super cool.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
Are you do you work with any other like government
agencies or offices.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Yeah, we bring awareness trainings really just to equip community leaders.
So that can look a lot of different ways, right, Yeah,
it really is.
Speaker 5 (37:04):
Anybody.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
Law enforcement first responders are probably my favorite people to train,
just because I encountered them so many times. If I'm
just being transparent, and it was like if they would
have spent a little bit more time or if they
knew what they were actually responding to. Right, So it's
been really like redemptive to train them and to come
(37:26):
up with ways on how to engage with this population
like better and really rebuild that relationship between survivors and
first responders. And then we get to train medical personnel,
So how do I identify and also like next steps?
So we trained all of like the urgent cares, the mogos,
the ers, and the crisis response teams.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
Wow, yeah, that's important. Somebody comes in on doctors on.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
Duty because that's where they're going to go, right, They're
going to go to the er, They're going to go
to the to the urgent care if they even if
they're not restricted in medical care. And so those are
the yeah, the medical personnel that will be well seeing
this population and really feeling like they're confident to do
their job but then also that they're confident to give
(38:15):
them next steps or possibly help them exit. And then
hospitality industry, so they might be seeing this in the hotels,
the motels. How can we equip them down to like
their security guards? Right, Like, how can we talk to
that industry who honestly is probably benefiting from trafficking in
a sense, How can we equip them to want to
(38:37):
partner in the anti trafficking movement, to take a stand
to really help survivors if they get that opportunity, And
sometimes that just looks.
Speaker 5 (38:46):
Like community partnership.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
Let us host an event there, you know, let us
throw a symposium at your hotel, like really take a
stand in this way. And so that's been pretty cool
to interact with them, social workers, school bus drivers, business.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
Damn it.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
We can't ask the ladies in our program to exit
the life of exploitation without providing opportunity and a job.
So what would it look like for you to employ
someone with lived experience, not hiring them because they're survivors,
but hiring them to teach them a skill. And they're
a survivor, so that might take some more time, but
(39:22):
you could change the trajectory of their life. So those
are our community awareness trainings, even like rotary clubs and
things like that, where people are a philanthropic and want
to get behind something, Well, here's our mission, yet behind it.
Speaker 4 (39:36):
Yeah, so.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
You have a residential treatment program, let's talk a little
bit about that. I don't want to forget about that.
Speaker 3 (39:44):
Oh, we have a two year long term residential home.
So really where we want to be the last stop
in a survivor's journey. The residents in our home, this
is for eighteen and over. They come to us a
little bit further along in their healing. They've done some
crisis stabilization and they're with us for two years. That they
are committing two years of their life. It's a home,
it's not an institution. My staff knocks on the door
(40:07):
when they get there. They want to be there. They're
rebuilding their lives after exploitation, and then giving them the
tools and the skill sets they need to thrive after
graduation and live life independently. And then yeah, we work
with primarily system involved youth have experienced commercial sexual exploitation,
are trafficking through a contract with the County of Monterey
(40:29):
Child Welfare.
Speaker 5 (40:30):
And then.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
We have an outpatient and alumni like services. So some
of our clients have kids or safe housings so they
don't need the residential peace and so we work with
them on classes and how to date after the life
of exploitation and have relationships and build credit and those
types of skills that I know I needed I know,
(40:56):
I need needed somebody to walk me through. Yeah, how
do I or record relief and things like that that
just really cleaning up the wreckage that the life of
exploitation created for them.
Speaker 4 (41:09):
This is huge. This is like all points.
Speaker 2 (41:12):
You guys are covering how many beds or how many
people at one time, and you're residential.
Speaker 3 (41:17):
For we're small that we really do life with these
ladies for two years and then some after. And so
I would love to see for restored lives than a
revolving door or a shelter where ladies are coming and going.
So exactly, we believe in a small model. Yeah, full
full time investment. Well and what you know, demographics? Who
(41:42):
what are the demographics you see primarily coming through? I mean,
I guess adults. Maybe let's just limit it to that.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
Out of the people that you're able to reach and
help and put your through your program, where are these
people coming from?
Speaker 4 (41:57):
Where?
Speaker 3 (41:58):
Who?
Speaker 4 (41:58):
And who are they?
Speaker 5 (42:00):
Most of our clients come from out of state.
Speaker 3 (42:02):
Actually, so the relocation process for survivors is important and
necessary to get out of the place you were trafficked.
And then also because we're a long term home, we
partner with those doing that crisis stabilization work, that two
to four week settling the nervous system, getting them what
they need, and then deciding, Okay, I'm going to choose
(42:22):
a long term program.
Speaker 5 (42:24):
I'm no longer in crisis. I'm not actively.
Speaker 3 (42:26):
Escaping an abuser like all of those kind of touch
points that would make someone run from a program. They
kind of get settled and then choose us. And so
there's not very many of them, but we partner with
the ones and they're national, so usually they're coming to
us from out of state.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
Okay, so you guys have a network across the state.
And once somebody's been through the initial detox a program,
so to speak, if they really want to look forward
and set route somewhere and build a new foundation for
their lives, then there's there's you in Eden's Glory and
other places across the country. And the ladies are like, yes, Monterey, California.
Speaker 5 (43:05):
I don't think they know that's a good life. Oh yeah,
they just some of them look out.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
Well. Okay, so how do people listening support your organization?
Speaker 3 (43:17):
What kind?
Speaker 2 (43:18):
We've got a couple events coming up. I was going
to grab the calendar. What do you have coming up
and how can people get involved, Well, we have.
Speaker 3 (43:25):
A fancy smancy golf golf event coming up June sixth.
There's only a pup for freedom, peep for freedom, so
golfing against exploitation. We have this like huge opportunity and
blessing to even host event at Tahema and so it's
an exclusive golf course so people don't get to play. Yeah,
(43:45):
so if that is something that interests you, I think
we have like three golf spots available in ten reception seats,
so it's almost sold out, but please if you would
like to attend that. And then we have our annual
gala November fifteenth and the all but all of this
is on our website set freemontribe dot org. You can
check out in some little events in between. We host
(44:07):
a volunteer training every single month if that's the way
you want to get involved, or just to learn more
about trafficking and working directly with the ladies, or maybe
you have a skill set that you want to share
with us. And then lastly, just we call our monthly
supporters defenders. They're quite literally desfending the lives of survivors.
So for twenty five dollars a month or more. That's
(44:30):
how people can partner with us, and yeah, really make
a difference in the anti trafficking movement.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Again, we'll say it. It's like, it's not somewhere else
that this happens. It's not overseas, it's not like oh
those people, it's everywhere. It's ubiquitous. It's in your kids' phones,
it's your next door neighbors maybe or something. Yeah, And
I think her first obligation branching back out to kind
of my worldview. And and you know, what does self
(45:01):
governance mean, and what does passing along a nation to
our children mean? It means taking responsibility and starting in
your backyard at home. Anything you can do to support
our fellow humans moving along making the better decisions for ourselves.
It's like, yes, we're a mess, but I think we
(45:22):
can overcome that a little bit of faith and a
little bit of action. So I really appreciate you joining
me today.
Speaker 5 (45:29):
Ashley.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
Will have to just stay in touch and do this periodically.
Please let me know if there's anything else going on.
I can help support the organization. The MIC's always open.
As I say thank you, Yeah, Ashley Tesney set Free
Monterey Bay. This has been Mama Bear's Radio. You guys
can always find me at my website and or email
Mama Bear's Radio at gmail dot com.
Speaker 4 (45:51):
Shoot me an email.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
I will be back next week, having transitioned, excuse me,
out of.
Speaker 4 (45:59):
Young kids at home.
Speaker 2 (46:00):
No more school aged kid kids in the early house.
It's crazy, all right. Everybody, keep your claws out and
I will see you next week.
Speaker 6 (46:07):
Mister compos signals and cons information, a lous affiliation and
millionaires and billionaires and baby
Speaker 2 (46:19):
Ko n y La Salva Beach and the Monterey Bay
home of the Schoolhouse Radio.
The California Mama Bears have been forced out of hibernation.
Fierce guardians of our future, Mama Bear's fight for parents' rights,
defense of the family, and God given freedoms everywhere. You're
listening to Mama Bears Radio with your host The New
(00:29):
Normal Kristen Hurley.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome back to Mama Bear's Radio, our number two here
on a beautiful Monday afternoon, safe and effective radio. I
might add, and so first hour, as I say with
my den cleaning, you can always catch my shows on podcast.
I upload them basically on Tuesdays to all the podcast
platforms Spotify or iHeart or Apple or wherever you get podcasts,
(00:56):
so you can catch the various hours if you miss them.
My usual den cleaning, My email's Mama Bears Radio at
gmail dot com. And that's m A m A Bears
Radio at gmail dot com. If you ever need to
get a hold of me, as I say, the microphone's
wide open. If there's something out there and now not
(01:16):
only open for Mama Bear's Radio, but for Ko and
Y in general. Anything out there that you think my
took all my interests, definitely send me an email, happy
to get in touch. Okay, well, this hour is all
about not about me. It's all about the set Free
movement and set Free Money Bay. And my guest and
studio today is Ashley Chesney, who's the executive excuse me,
(01:38):
let me get you up here, executive director and co
founder of Set Free Monterey Bay. Welcome to Mama Bear's Radio.
Thanks so much for having me. It's nice to have
I just appreciate so much that you took the time
to come up to the station. You're out of the
Peninsula area, so I appreciate when people come in person.
(01:58):
I think the conversations are a little more dynamic.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Yeah, we act like Santa Cruz and mone is so
far from me too, They're not.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
There are people that swim from the point down to
the peninsula. So cool surfer guys.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Okay, well, welcome.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
So I meant to read your bio or last hour
and sort of introduce you a bit, but now that
you're here in person, it's your hurt. Well, why don't
yeah take a few minutes and who are you and
how did you get involved with Set Free Money Bay?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Sure, well, I got involved with set Free Monery Bay.
We all kind of a bunch of us a handful
of US co founded in twenty eighteen, but really it
was sparked out of a Gospel Injustice event at a
local church, and my lived experience is really what brought
(02:51):
me to wanting to be part of some sort of
organization that was doing the work, and one didn't really
exist yet. I was past out gift bags in East
Salinas and just telling women they could have a different life,
because really God wrecked my life and in the best
way and gave me an a one and so I
(03:12):
wanted to share that with others and like for others
to experience freedom like I had. And at that event,
Felicia George was there amongst our other co founders and
our partner and sister organization, Eden's Glory. They they're located
in Illinois. And from that kind of that breakout session
(03:34):
of all like hearts and minds, came the magic.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
Yeah, the magic happened.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
And I was a survivor of trafficking and was able
to say that.
Speaker 5 (03:46):
And I think.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
The work that Felicia was already doing in the schools,
combined with these partners who are already doing this work
in a residential capacity, we really got the framework that
we needed to start set freemonto Bay and I don't
know if you know this, but housing costs a lot
of money, so.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Well, I just have so much money that I just
want to notice you.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Didn't know that issue that we're having in California, so
it took us quite some time to gain. The ultimate
goal was to have a residential program for survivors of trafficking,
and in the middle time of that desire and bringing
that to fruition, we spent a lot of time in
the schools, which we still do, and then just training
(04:35):
our community. How can we equip community leaders to know
what this problem is, to identify potential victims, to know
how to interact with this population. So I'll talk more
about what we do specifically there, but yeah, I've worked
every possible position within set Free, including volunteer and then
(04:55):
was the first paid staff in twenty twenty and when
we called our nonprofit stat and then stepped into the
executive director role in September of twenty two. So, okay,
making set for you a survivor led organization, which is
pretty neat to say, and I feel honored to be
in this space and semi that lens, Yeah, like the
(05:18):
I have a lived experience, right, but learning all the
all the skills needed to really be an ed and
be an efficient one has been a journey.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
And so here we are today, and.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yeah, well you know, if you're just catching on to
what we're talking about, I think saying modern day slavery
packs a punch. Human trafficking, Okay, yeah, you know, maybe
feels less like this is a disaster. It's it's a tragedy.
It's there's always been slaves, There's always been slavery over
(05:50):
the epochs and and whatever. We're gullible, culpable humans. I
just you know, and you're romassa for lack of.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
A better word, is almost a buzzword in today's media.
I think it's sensationalized. It's movies and videos and things
that we consume TV programs.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
They're based off of a loose reality.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
But honestly, human trafficking, modern day slavery, slavery can take
shape in many forms. You could line up one hundred
survivors and all of their stories and experiences would be different,
and it still falls under that umbrella. So really expanding
what we think we know about trafficking and really understanding
(06:38):
it encompasses so much.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
I agree, that's what I'm man was like, slavery has
a different connotation, and it's just more you feel a
little bit, you know, a little more silenced by that thought.
And it's everywhere, even in the most gentrified of you know,
expensive Christine coastal California, left coast elitist neighborhoods. Uh. It's
(07:08):
not just inner city, it's not just some other country
around the world that you can't pronounce.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
It's here on the Monterey Bay.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
I mean, that's why I like that you're a very
localized organization. Is in the beautiful Monterey Bay. The sun
is shining and like everyone's got their pretty little lifestyles,
but there's there's tragedy happening here and it's egregious. People
need to be educated, and especially our kids because they're
the especially vulnerable. So I don't know where we want
(07:36):
to start. If we want to start with set Free
just organizationally, like what do you guys do day to
day and you're you're in and you are you're out,
And then we can move into some of the education
that you bring in the classrooms for how to help
your how to have a conversation with your kids, what
the kids need to know.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Absolutely, yeah, just to touch on like the suburban, beautiful
California neighborhoods that the influence that we see. I grew
up in those neighborhoods, so I went to Pacific Grove
High School. For those that know, they're here in a county.
So human trafficking doesn't have boundaries. Can easily touch someone
(08:16):
who grew up like me and the child in foster care.
So I don't think that the house you grow up
in depend is dependent on whether you can be susceptible
to this crime. And that's not to scare parents or
to scare kids. That is so Felicia always says, that's
(08:37):
how we teach them to play defense. That's how we
expose things and talk about it and make it more
of a conversation so that when it's not if they're
approached online or in person, then we know what to
do next as parents, as friends, as safe adults, and
(08:57):
then also for our kids young people, to know what
to do next.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
So you know, I had I had three more hours
before you showed up. I was gonna talk about a
subject I like a lot about raising kids and letting
them explore. Right, there's a part to childhood where you
cannot helicopter parent your kid. You can't be everywhere at
all times and keep them sheltered with play.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
And there's many names for it, pre range.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Kids or risky play, or there's different ways to describe
letting your kids slowly grow on autonomy so that they
build a level of intelligence and intuition and they learn
life skills, you know, out on their own, little by little.
The story of the lady that let her kid take
the subway home in Brooklyn or whatever.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
So there's that, but there's this.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Element to raising your kids and letting them broaden their
horizons and either be outdoors on the street play or
in other neighborhoods, or online on websites and in various
communication with people you don't know. Again, they there's a
distinction between letting it all go and let you know,
(10:14):
good luck to you kid, and helping them to be
savvy about the world. So maybe we should just launch
into that, like what what what are the statistics on
modern day slavery?
Speaker 4 (10:26):
You're human trafficking. I don't know if you have.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Local stats or numbers or California or nationwide.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
How's the number? Run some numbers, but US.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
This is a hard population to gather data on, right,
It's not like we are able to Yeah, they're going undetected.
People that are trafficked don't have a voice, and they're
definitely not filling out surveys for us to get this information.
So we get information when people call hotlines or they
enter programs.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
So I would say the numbers we.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Have are very conservative under yes, yeah, twenty eight forty
three million victims globally. See how wide range that statistic is?
Four hundred and three thousand in the US alone. I
will say more than half of those numbers are miners.
So this is affecting our children. Average age of a
(11:16):
trafficked individual in the US is twelve for our females,
nine for our males.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
Dang, nine for boys.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Hikes if somebody I think it's I don't know specifically
why that is, but I would if I had to guess,
it's easier to control a nine year old boy than
it is a twelve year old boy. Okay, in terms
of unerability, strength, sure mentality.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Yeah, they're still little kid.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Yeah, an kid at twelve, there's still a kid. Absolutely,
they don't think they're there might be some push off.
So yeah, those are some just like make your stomach
turn numbers. And then just for our area, we don't
really gets specific data unless it's like an online advertisement.
(12:07):
So how we see people being sold through Santa Cruz
and Money County is through websites known for solicitation, and
we're able to pull numbers from those websites where people
are purchased for sex. And any given day of the week,
Monterey County has about eleven hundred advertisements being posted. That's
(12:30):
kind of our baseline, wow, meaning roughly one hundred and
ten people being trafficked for imagining somebody sold ten times
a day.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
That could even be a lot.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
Well, and that's just like available online.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Yeah, if we have an event, right, that number doubles,
sometimes triples, so people being brought into our counties and
we see the overflowing into Santa Cruz County.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
If we have a big event, your numbers also go up.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Because they will move based on the tourism. They will
move victims to get money. Right, So if I am
done in Montere County, where do you think I'm gonna
go next? Trafficking is not necessarily about movement. People can
be trafficked to never leave their home. But if we're
talking about data specific numbers, we're looking at people being
(13:26):
trafficked for big events, for tourism. That's kind of like
a trafficking loop we see in California down the one
on one in the five the Bay Area to us,
the Central Valley to us. We're like this connecting point
for tourist events and for trafficking. So those are yes,
there's known websites for that.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
And again, yeah, it's like that is only the tip
of the iceberg that is visible.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
And how much don't we see?
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Yeah, that doesn't encompass familial trafficking or online exploitation outside
of the advertisements. Right, there's so much that we can't track. Right,
It's a population that's hidden on purpose.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Well, on that note, let's take a break here. I'm
really glad you're joining me today to talk about It's
a terribly difficult subject, but let's keep pashing through. I
really feel compelled that in this I said earlier, like
on the totem pole of national crisis, that every day
we wake up to it like this is just such
(14:37):
a pervasive problem, but it tends to just get ignored
and buried and feel like there's nothing we can do
about it right now. But I think awareness and education
about it is. You know, we're halfway there the more
we talk about it. All right, everybody, Well, this is
Mama Bear's Radio. Kristin Hurley here, my guest today, Ashley
Chesney from Set Free, Monterey Bay. We're talking nay slavery.
(15:01):
We will take our break and be right back.
Speaker 5 (15:06):
Mama Bear's Radio. We'll be right back.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Welcome back to Mama Bears Radio. Kristen Hurley here, gold
standard broadcasting. As we say, all right, we'll back to
the tough subject at hand. We're talking human trafficking, modern
day slavery. My guest is Ashley Chesney. If you're just
joining the show, She's from Set Free, Monterey Bay. The
(15:59):
trafficking have in our homes and in our backyards. It's
a pervasive, disastrous problem. And I, as I've said, I've
had my friend Felicia from Set Free on over the
years to talk about this, and Ashley's with me today.
Something we need to be educated about now. Somehow, the
good conversations always happen when the microphones are off. Ashley
(16:20):
and I off there during the break, we're kind of
chatting about a few things.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
I happen to mention.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Even my twenty one year old who's a pretty savvy kid,
got scammed the other day through a text that was like,
hey Danana, you have a traffic violation type in your
credit card number.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
We had to go cancel her darn card. It's easy.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
It is super easy because the internet scammers are sophisticated.
The it's a well oiled machine to reach kids online
and adults too, I might add, were all susceptible. But
we have to have conversations with our kids about what
they need to know when to come to you, like
(16:59):
when to have their suspicions up.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
And wild world out there.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Actually, So yeah, let's back up a little bit.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
We were going to.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Talk about education, how to educate our kids, how to
educate parents and by extension, your kids, on what even
goes on online?
Speaker 4 (17:17):
How do you get trafficked online? What does that look like?
Speaker 5 (17:21):
Well, digital trafficking is huge.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
I mean our young people anything with a chat platform.
So whether that's social media or or gaming or these
types of platforms. That's not to say don't use them,
it's just how do we use them safely. I want
to hear what the gamers are saying. I want you
not to be with your headphones on and it plugged in.
(17:47):
And if someone says something weird to you, will your
kids come to you? Because if that's the gap, then
we need to have more open dialogue with our kids.
Social media, there's celebrity he's talking about OnlyFans in these profiles,
and how you can make money for a weekend and
go buy something expensive like that's attractive to our young people,
(18:08):
you know, especially young people who don't know their worth.
And so how do we talk about these things and
call them out for what they actually are. I think
something really big right now in the online world that really.
Speaker 5 (18:21):
Affects our youth. It can affect adults too. But is sextortion?
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Where can I just give you a kind of like
a case study, and so that I helped. This is
probably the most extreme version, but it'll paints the picture.
A young girl without a private account started chatting with
somebody online and so now this person who's posing to
be someone her age knows everything about her before they
(18:48):
even start chatting, her school, what her family looks like,
her best friend, what sports she plays, so they have
a lot in common when they become friends online and
they built reports were and then send me a picture, right,
send me a picture in your bra. You know, the
youth sometimes make choices that are not the best choice.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Seems perfectly rational, but I so at that.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Point that the unsafe person revealed I'm not who you
think I am, and if you don't continue to send
me this content, then I will leak this to your
school and your parents because they have that information, right,
and that the shame of that for this young lady
was so great that she continued to interact.
Speaker 5 (19:33):
And engage with this person for three years.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
Dang.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
And then how old was she at the at the outsetel?
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (19:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
So then the materials, the photos, the videos are then
being sold. That's how this perpetrator is making money. And
instead of turning the phone over to a safe adult,
the shame was so great, the same person took her life.
And that's like a very extreme version of sex. We
see micro versions of that where the youth engages and
(20:05):
something happens and then they're like, send me two thousand
dollars and I'll stop harassing you. Right, these are kids,
they don't have that type of money, but that's if
she just would have had Maybe it's not mom and dad,
but maybe it's a safe adult who talked to her
about this, where she hey, this is happening to other
people too. There's also the National Center for Missing and
(20:26):
Exploited Kids has a take it Down website where if
youth upload pictures or videos, you know, make mistakes, this
website will take it down. Like there's resources for her
right and for others. So how sorry, that's just one
example of the online exploitation that's happening. But how do
we have these conversations and be ahead of it so
(20:46):
that like I harass and I was gonna say harass,
but harass in the best way my friend's kids and
they'll be like Auntie Ashley, someone came up to me
at Target.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
And I think they were weird, like, you know.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Like they already it's a weird person one day, not
to make them hyper vigilant, but oh we've already talked
about this and it's not scary because I have safe
adults in my life who talk to me about it.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
I think that when we have this open dialogue with
children with teens, with young twenty one year old daughters
that oh, okay, like mom knows what she's talking about,
and oh, this happened to a friend of mine, right,
And then they're looking out for each other because they're
having open dialogues with safe adults about it, they can
(21:35):
look out for each other too. Why do you have
the second social media account? What do you do on there?
Like they're asking their friends these questions like do you
think that's safe? Like things like that, where they can
be a safe person for a peer.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
That's actually the best way to spread it is let
it go peer to peer as opposed to talking down
to the you know kids, then you get the opposite effect.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
Sometimes, but.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Letting the kids that have it, you know, screwed on
street set an example for their peers that goes a
long way.
Speaker 5 (22:06):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
So what else?
Speaker 2 (22:08):
What else is instructive for parents or students, you know
in the set free program that would be taken into
schools or whatever. How how would you start out the
conversation with a classroom of students. Yeah, so we have our.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Own education curriculum that Felicia George developed originally and we've
since evolved and are in the middle schools and high schools.
It's actually California loss. So that's probably our first step.
If your child school does not receive anti human trafficking prevention,
it's ABE one two two seven, I believe is the bill.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
Ask your school, it's why they're.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Not receiving this education, and they should get it. One
time in middle school, one time in high school. And
when I do the presentation, I go in there with
like a beach ball and I kind of break the eyes.
This is not fun to talk about. This is not
fun for adults to talk about. So I just like
hit the kids with the ball. No, I ask them, like,
what do you know about human trafficking? If you catch
(23:06):
the ball? And it's okay if you know nothing, right,
and then we do it again at the end of
the presentation. So just like to be fun, right, because
you know, it's a room full of teenage boys. Half
of them are like so uncomfortable, and then the girls
are you could hear a pin drop, So how do
we talk about this again in a way that it's like, no,
like this is real and you guys raise your hand
(23:29):
if something someone has ever said something weird to you online?
Every hand half the class, right, yeah, at least, So
it's not that they're unaware. Our kids definitely know that
this is going on, but how do we kind of
expand their knowledge, not to scare them, but that it
could happen to them, like they are not invincible, and
(23:50):
that this can be access to like people in their community,
like their friends themselves, like are susceptible to this happening.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
And so we talked like what then, like if it's
all on their radar, but what do you do about it?
And probably that's the missing link is you know what's happening,
maybe on some internal level, but you don't know what
to do, how to take the next step to stop
it in its tracks or to whatever.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
And that's then you're down a path.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
And even if you're down the path right then like
creating safety plans for these kiddos, like hmm, that sounds interesting.
Maybe they don't identify with being traffic, but they're dating
someone that you feel is unsafe, Like what happens when.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
That person gets mad? Where do you go?
Speaker 3 (24:36):
Have them name three places they would go, have them
name three people they would call, you know, so that
you're basically creating this exit strategy without telling them they're
doing something wrong, you know, It's kind of that harm
reduction approach to making sure that they when they're in crisis,
that they might have somewhere to go and people to
(24:57):
call and they're not alone, versus saying, oh, you shouldn't
date that person, right because that doesn't been year old
just to screw you. Yeah, and then she could be
lost forever. So definitely just talking to the youth like
very real and very transparent. I think it helps that
(25:20):
I have my own story to be like, Hi, I'm
here and I'm a live person, So I think that
goes a long way to share what I wish I
would have done differently, or who I wish I would
have had in my corner.
Speaker 5 (25:37):
And then being that for.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
The youth, excellent, Well we got to take a break,
so much fun.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
Keep going and unpack there though, But.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
I think the key to it is just letting kids
trust their instincts and like you said, having having an out,
knowing that they're not stuck wherever they are. No words
for this, actually, so this is a tough convo to have,
(26:09):
but I'm glad you're here. So this is Mama Bear's Radio,
Kristin Hurley here, We're going to take a break. My
guest is Ashley Chesney from set Free Monterey Bay, and
we are talking about human trafficking under our noses in
our backyards around the Monterey Bay. And we will be
back in just a minute.
Speaker 5 (26:31):
Mama Bear's Radio.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
We'll be right back. You'll welcome back to Mama Bears Radio.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
Kristin Hurley here.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
And my guest this afternoon, Ashley Chesney from set Free
Monterey Bay. We're having a chit chat about human trafficking
what that looks like here on the Central Coast and beyond. So, Ashley,
you were saying, so set Free you have a three
pronged approach in your organization prevention, Yeah, prevent, awareness and restoration. Okay,
(27:32):
so we were kind of still under the prevention umbrella.
Maybe we'll finish that up a little bit and make
sure to get to the other two before the top
of the hour. So you're in the classroom with kids,
you know, you tell them your story.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
What's the reaction to that too? Do they have questions
for you?
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Do you feel like that that gives just a little
bit more impact to your connection with them?
Speaker 5 (28:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
I use a couple of different like media tools and
videos too, to for them to like digest it, don't
just stand up there and tell them the gory details.
So I think it like the others were like removed,
like people they don't know, and then I finish up
with mine, and so it's kind of like, oh wow,
like I know someone that this affected, even if it's
(28:25):
just I met them that day. It really depends on
the school side, if they're receptive.
Speaker 5 (28:32):
It's kind of an interesting thing.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
But yeah, I've had students come up to me after
and say or disclose.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
I was gonna say, does that open them up to
feel a little bit more free to say I had
this experience or what about this that's going on?
Speaker 3 (28:48):
Yeah, they shared like about like parents and or my
mom experienced abuse or or this type of thing where
they feel brave enough to tell me that. But during
the presentations, I always make sure like I have the
guidance counselor or someone available or aware that I'm giving
that presentation that day for them to have some sort
(29:09):
of outlet. Years previous, we've I've had teachers that had
her whole class right, like anonymous letters to myself, to
our team and just powerful right the things that I
think it gets there even if they act silly in
the classroom or like, I think they are thinking about
it because it's not some things, not an everyday presentation
(29:33):
that they get.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
So, yeah, it's a tough subject and you want to
kind of you get the church giggles. You don't want
to laugh it off.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Even if we're just planting a seat. I think that
what we're doing matters.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
Well, yeah, keep going.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Then I think, what are some other major points that
if you were sitting here with the classroom of kids today, like,
what would you really want to hammer home for them?
Speaker 3 (29:54):
Yeah, I want them to know their worth. You know,
we work with youth. I work with primarily system involved
youth who've experienced exploitation or trafficking through our county. So
step Free works with the under eighteen population in that capacity,
and I would much rather talk to a classroom of
kids that has never experienced something like that and teach
(30:16):
them what to do if someone approaches them, what to
do if they have a friend going through this, or
feel like I can equip them with the tools needed
to not have that happen to them. Then try to
convince somebody who's gone through a trauma like that that
they're worth more, you know, and so I think it's
(30:39):
really instilling them a sense of worth, really honing in
on like age appropriate relationships and what those look like.
I think talking with youth, you know, I remember being
a young girl and oh the older boy likes me.
Speaker 5 (30:53):
You know, all these things.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
But when it's an older adult, there's something wrong with them, right,
Nothing wrong with our youth who are going through a lot, right,
they're teenagers. They want to be desired. They the media
tells them all this stuff. They need to be sexy,
they need to be you know, all this this propaganda.
But no, like, there's something wrong with these people and
(31:19):
they're unsafe if they're are approaching you in this way,
And how do we teach them not to engage and
not to find that, not to take the bait and
those types of things. And I really can I really
think that comes with a sense of self worth and
like what are their peers doing and how are their
peers behaving?
Speaker 5 (31:39):
Because that can also.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
Go a long way, Like if you have a good
egg in there who really sets the tone and is
a leader, Like how cool is that that that friend group?
Speaker 5 (31:48):
Could there could be a shift in the friend group.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
And so I think a lot of that also, I
mean is dependent on I know, for my faith, Like.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
That's what kept me from going back to the life
of exploiting.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
So yeah, like I think that's missing in our world today.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
It is, it is, and it's the.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Self worth and bigger picture of course that few kids have,
you know, fifty years ago or one hundred years ago,
before pre internet, that already was kind of part and
parcel of maturing and you kind of have tunnel vision
as a kid.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
But I think that that is huge is.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Knowing that it's wrong for any adult that's not like,
oh he loves you. Oh he's sixteen and you're fifteen,
and it's.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
The older guy.
Speaker 5 (32:40):
Yeah that's fine.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Yeah, it's you know, if there's an adult that you
know that is wrong in any respect.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
And that for them to not feel shame or think
that there's something inherently right, yes, right, but for them
really to know like, oh no, that's not appropriate and
it that's not on me, you know, to really like
understand that concept can be hard for a youth. And
just like the desire to grow up, right, Like we
all want to be older than and it's like no,
like be a kid or be a teen and be
(33:13):
present in that season.
Speaker 4 (33:16):
So what does somebody do?
Speaker 2 (33:17):
So, say someone's caught up, they know what's wrong, they've
got someone on their tail online or something. How do
how does somebody report it? Where do they go besides
a safe adult or a parent or something like that?
Is is there a number to call or a website
or a hotline?
Speaker 4 (33:34):
Like what do you do?
Speaker 3 (33:35):
Absolutely, there's lots of hotlines. So the National Human Trafficking
Hotline is one of them. I do feel like they're
a little overloaded. There's another one called Rescue America. And
now an amazing organization called Safehouse Project just created an
app called Simply Report, So parents' kids, someone who's experienced trafficking,
(33:57):
anyone can download this app and they're trying to take
over the Human Trafficking Hotline and it's a way to
report and receive services talk to someone almost like you know,
if you're experiencing like suicidal ideation, you can call the
same type of thing. So I think just having those
like basic numbers in your phone or having this amazing
(34:18):
app that's could could do a lot.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Yeah, even a parent needs to know where to go,
Like say your kid comes to you, Well, now what.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
And I mean law enforcement, like at least a Monorey county.
We've had the opportunity to train all of the agencies
in Honoree County, so they should be able to show
you in the right direction or know what local NGOs
are available in your city or county. I think Santacus
County there's Monarch Services, they're Aruka Project, Like there's different
(34:47):
anti trafficking orgs and you want to know those local
ones right and then the national hotlines they do a
really good job in assisting survivors to get to where
they need to go.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Why don't we take our last break here, and then
we can segue into more back into your organization, Set Free.
How where are you guys in the community, how do
people where's your outreach? Like, what resources do you provide
for the community at large? And then we'll get into
events you've got coming up and how.
Speaker 4 (35:20):
People support you guys.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Okay, everybody, this is Kristin Hurley Mama Bear's Radio.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
My guess is Ashley Chesney from Set Free, Monterey Bay.
We are going to take our break and be right back.
Speaker 5 (35:34):
Mama Bear's Radio. We'll be right back.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Welcome back to Mama Bear's Radio. Wrapping up. It's a Monday.
Since I was just reminded, I still think my shows
on Wednesdays.
Speaker 4 (36:07):
Maybe I'll get back to Wednesdays some days.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Anyways, it's a lovely Monday afternoon and we are wrapping
up the Safe and Effective Radio show. Kristin Hurley Here,
my guess is Ashley Chesney Set Free Monterey Bay. We're
tackling the tough topic of human trafficking, so let's just
get back to set Free Monory Bay. Just in general,
So what you I'm super impressed. It's like you have
(36:32):
programs for classrooms, people that go in and struck kids
in the classrooms, and you've said a couple of times
that you work with law enforcement in the county to
help them be prepared to give them the resources and
education they need on their end.
Speaker 4 (36:47):
Super cool.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
Are you do you work with any other like government
agencies or offices.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Yeah, we bring awareness trainings really just to equip community leaders.
So that can look a lot of different ways, right, Yeah,
it really is.
Speaker 5 (37:04):
Anybody.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
Law enforcement first responders are probably my favorite people to train,
just because I encountered them so many times. If I'm
just being transparent, and it was like if they would
have spent a little bit more time or if they
knew what they were actually responding to. Right, So it's
been really like redemptive to train them and to come
(37:26):
up with ways on how to engage with this population
like better and really rebuild that relationship between survivors and
first responders. And then we get to train medical personnel,
So how do I identify and also like next steps?
So we trained all of like the urgent cares, the mogos,
the ers, and the crisis response teams.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
Wow, yeah, that's important. Somebody comes in on doctors on.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
Duty because that's where they're going to go, right, They're
going to go to the er, They're going to go
to the to the urgent care if they even if
they're not restricted in medical care. And so those are
the yeah, the medical personnel that will be well seeing
this population and really feeling like they're confident to do
their job but then also that they're confident to give
(38:15):
them next steps or possibly help them exit. And then
hospitality industry, so they might be seeing this in the hotels,
the motels. How can we equip them down to like
their security guards? Right, Like, how can we talk to
that industry who honestly is probably benefiting from trafficking in
a sense, How can we equip them to want to
(38:37):
partner in the anti trafficking movement, to take a stand
to really help survivors if they get that opportunity, And
sometimes that just looks.
Speaker 5 (38:46):
Like community partnership.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
Let us host an event there, you know, let us
throw a symposium at your hotel, like really take a
stand in this way. And so that's been pretty cool
to interact with them, social workers, school bus drivers, business.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
Damn it.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
We can't ask the ladies in our program to exit
the life of exploitation without providing opportunity and a job.
So what would it look like for you to employ
someone with lived experience, not hiring them because they're survivors,
but hiring them to teach them a skill. And they're
a survivor, so that might take some more time, but
(39:22):
you could change the trajectory of their life. So those
are our community awareness trainings, even like rotary clubs and
things like that, where people are a philanthropic and want
to get behind something, Well, here's our mission, yet behind it.
Speaker 4 (39:36):
Yeah, so.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
You have a residential treatment program, let's talk a little
bit about that. I don't want to forget about that.
Speaker 3 (39:44):
Oh, we have a two year long term residential home.
So really where we want to be the last stop
in a survivor's journey. The residents in our home, this
is for eighteen and over. They come to us a
little bit further along in their healing. They've done some
crisis stabilization and they're with us for two years. That they
are committing two years of their life. It's a home,
it's not an institution. My staff knocks on the door
(40:07):
when they get there. They want to be there. They're
rebuilding their lives after exploitation, and then giving them the
tools and the skill sets they need to thrive after
graduation and live life independently. And then yeah, we work
with primarily system involved youth have experienced commercial sexual exploitation,
are trafficking through a contract with the County of Monterey
(40:29):
Child Welfare.
Speaker 5 (40:30):
And then.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
We have an outpatient and alumni like services. So some
of our clients have kids or safe housings so they
don't need the residential peace and so we work with
them on classes and how to date after the life
of exploitation and have relationships and build credit and those
types of skills that I know I needed I know,
(40:56):
I need needed somebody to walk me through. Yeah, how
do I or record relief and things like that that
just really cleaning up the wreckage that the life of
exploitation created for them.
Speaker 4 (41:09):
This is huge. This is like all points.
Speaker 2 (41:12):
You guys are covering how many beds or how many
people at one time, and you're residential.
Speaker 3 (41:17):
For we're small that we really do life with these
ladies for two years and then some after. And so
I would love to see for restored lives than a
revolving door or a shelter where ladies are coming and going.
So exactly, we believe in a small model. Yeah, full
full time investment. Well and what you know, demographics? Who
(41:42):
what are the demographics you see primarily coming through? I mean,
I guess adults. Maybe let's just limit it to that.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
Out of the people that you're able to reach and
help and put your through your program, where are these
people coming from?
Speaker 4 (41:57):
Where?
Speaker 3 (41:58):
Who?
Speaker 4 (41:58):
And who are they?
Speaker 5 (42:00):
Most of our clients come from out of state.
Speaker 3 (42:02):
Actually, so the relocation process for survivors is important and
necessary to get out of the place you were trafficked.
And then also because we're a long term home, we
partner with those doing that crisis stabilization work, that two
to four week settling the nervous system, getting them what
they need, and then deciding, Okay, I'm going to choose
(42:22):
a long term program.
Speaker 5 (42:24):
I'm no longer in crisis. I'm not actively.
Speaker 3 (42:26):
Escaping an abuser like all of those kind of touch
points that would make someone run from a program. They
kind of get settled and then choose us. And so
there's not very many of them, but we partner with
the ones and they're national, so usually they're coming to
us from out of state.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
Okay, so you guys have a network across the state.
And once somebody's been through the initial detox a program,
so to speak, if they really want to look forward
and set route somewhere and build a new foundation for
their lives, then there's there's you in Eden's Glory and
other places across the country. And the ladies are like, yes, Monterey, California.
Speaker 5 (43:05):
I don't think they know that's a good life. Oh yeah,
they just some of them look out.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
Well. Okay, so how do people listening support your organization?
Speaker 3 (43:17):
What kind?
Speaker 2 (43:18):
We've got a couple events coming up. I was going
to grab the calendar. What do you have coming up
and how can people get involved, Well, we have.
Speaker 3 (43:25):
A fancy smancy golf golf event coming up June sixth.
There's only a pup for freedom, peep for freedom, so
golfing against exploitation. We have this like huge opportunity and
blessing to even host event at Tahema and so it's
an exclusive golf course so people don't get to play. Yeah,
(43:45):
so if that is something that interests you, I think
we have like three golf spots available in ten reception seats,
so it's almost sold out, but please if you would
like to attend that. And then we have our annual
gala November fifteenth and the all but all of this
is on our website set freemontribe dot org. You can
check out in some little events in between. We host
(44:07):
a volunteer training every single month if that's the way
you want to get involved, or just to learn more
about trafficking and working directly with the ladies, or maybe
you have a skill set that you want to share
with us. And then lastly, just we call our monthly
supporters defenders. They're quite literally desfending the lives of survivors.
So for twenty five dollars a month or more. That's
(44:30):
how people can partner with us, and yeah, really make
a difference in the anti trafficking movement.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Again, we'll say it. It's like, it's not somewhere else
that this happens. It's not overseas, it's not like oh
those people, it's everywhere. It's ubiquitous. It's in your kids' phones,
it's your next door neighbors maybe or something. Yeah, And
I think her first obligation branching back out to kind
of my worldview. And and you know, what does self
(45:01):
governance mean, and what does passing along a nation to
our children mean? It means taking responsibility and starting in
your backyard at home. Anything you can do to support
our fellow humans moving along making the better decisions for ourselves.
It's like, yes, we're a mess, but I think we
(45:22):
can overcome that a little bit of faith and a
little bit of action. So I really appreciate you joining
me today.
Speaker 5 (45:29):
Ashley.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
Will have to just stay in touch and do this periodically.
Please let me know if there's anything else going on.
I can help support the organization. The MIC's always open.
As I say thank you, Yeah, Ashley Tesney set Free
Monterey Bay. This has been Mama Bear's Radio. You guys
can always find me at my website and or email
Mama Bear's Radio at gmail dot com.
Speaker 4 (45:51):
Shoot me an email.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
I will be back next week, having transitioned, excuse me,
out of.
Speaker 4 (45:59):
Young kids at home.
Speaker 2 (46:00):
No more school aged kid kids in the early house.
It's crazy, all right. Everybody, keep your claws out and
I will see you next week.
Speaker 6 (46:07):
Mister compos signals and cons information, a lous affiliation and
millionaires and billionaires and baby
Speaker 2 (46:19):
Ko n y La Salva Beach and the Monterey Bay
home of the Schoolhouse Radio.
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