On Saturday, April 25th, St. John Church Temple at 2129 E. 79th Street in Chicago became the backdrop for an urgent and powerful conversation. YHS Child hosted its 3rd Annual Human Trafficking Fundraiser — an elegant, formal affair with a serious purpose: bringing awareness, resources, and training to the fight against child sex trafficking in Chicago.
Senior Pastor Rev. Brewer of St. John Church Temple, a community partner of YHS Child, welcomed the gathering as guests arrived dressed in their finest formal attire. The event was sponsored by Love and Knowledge.
One of the most striking moments of the evening was the revelation that Illinois ranks 11th among the most sex-trafficked places in the world — a sobering statistic that underscored the urgency of the gathering. For YHS Child President and Co-Founder Ashonti Taisha McKinney, the event was years in the making.
“About three years ago, I started looking into it a little bit more, seeing how big of an issue it was in our community,” McKinney shared. “I wanted to make sure that people got the training and the resources to actually handle the issue — because it is not an overseas issue. It’s in your home and across the street.”
McKinney, who co-founded YHS Child five years ago, said the decision to focus on human trafficking came through prayer and reflection — a calling she felt compelled to answer.
Voices on the Front Lines
The evening featured three powerful guest speakers, each bringing firsthand expertise to the conversation.
Dr. Kisha Roberts-Tabb, a community psychologist, human trafficking specialist, and founder of the non-profit Girls Night Out, represented the RTA Human Trafficking Group. She addressed how to identify trafficking victims, how to respond when trafficking is suspected, and what kind of support survivors need on their road to healing.
“I’m here today to bring awareness around identifying trafficking victims, how to respond to trafficking victims, and the support victims may need,” Dr. Roberts-Tabb told attendees.
Jane Shea of The Harbour brought four years of experience working with youth experiencing homelessness to the conversation, with a clear mission: ending youth homelessness across the Chicagoland area — a reality closely linked to trafficking vulnerability.
Tyesa Walton, founder of Chloe’s Safe Haven — home to Chloe’s Closet and Chloe’s Kitchen — and an educator at Dunbar High School, spoke from both her professional and advocacy experience, representing the grassroots organizations filling critical gaps for at-risk youth.
A Community Taking Action
What made the evening stand out was not just the elegance of the setting, but the depth of the commitment in the room. YHS Child’s fundraiser was a clear statement that Chicago’s community is not waiting for the problem to be solved from the outside — it is organizing, educating, and mobilizing from within.
Human trafficking is not a distant issue. It is happening in neighborhoods, schools, and homes across Chicago — and events like this one are how communities begin to fight back.
