Every year, in every Super Bowl city, the NFL and its philanthropic foundation makes it a priority to promote awareness of human trafficking issues and provide resources and exposure to organizations that serve victims of sexual violence and exploitation.
In Las Vegas, where Super Bowl LVIII will take place at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, the football league and the Las Vegas Super Bowl Host Committee made sure that the benefitting organization would be a local nonprofit and not a national group. Signs of Hope, established nearly 50 years ago in Southern Nevada, is the lead human trafficking non-governmental organization for both the Super Bowl and the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix that took place in November. It is one of many local organizations receiving financial support through the Super Bowl and the NFL Foundation.
“Trafficking is an area of focus for every Super Bowl in every host city and they always pick a partner to make sure all efforts are maximized in and around the big game,” says Myisha Boyce, chief community engagement officer for the Las Vegas Super Bowl Host Committee. “Other host cities sometimes use national or international firms.
“No one knows Vegas better than those of us who form community here, and the host committee took it upon ourselves to make the recommendation for a local representative that really understood what this community needs.”
Signs of Hope was established in 1974 as Community Action Against Rape (CAAR) and operated as the Rape Crisis Center from 2004 through 2021. “Hope” is actually an acronym for Healing, Options, Prevention and Education. No matter the moniker, the mission has remained the same: providing assistance and healing to those affected by trafficking and violence, and raising awareness through prevention, education and community outreach.
Signs of Hope operates a 24-hour crisis hotline and provides hospital response, counseling and advocacy for victims. Its Resources and Integration for Survivor Empowerment (RISE) program offers crisis response and long-term case management to victims of all forms of human trafficking. For information how to get involved or make a donation, visit sohlv.org.
Kimberly Small, CEO of Signs of Hope, says she’s “always shocked” when people assume human trafficking doesn’t exist in Las Vegas.
“You have locals who are either unaware or in denial this happens here, or they may see something and they don’t know what to say or who to say it to,” she says. “That’s where education comes in.”
According to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department stats cited by Signs of Hope, the Vice Section arrested 330 traffickers in Southern Nevada on a variety of charges in 2022, including 40 arrests for sex trafficking a child (recovering 90 children) and 88 arrests for sex trafficking an adult.
Small says partnering with casinos and resorts is an important part of the organization’s outreach efforts to extend education about trafficking into the community.
“You would be surprised the amount of support casinos offer. They want their staff to know what to do in case this happens, and a lot of training happens in casinos on and off the Strip,” she says. “We do monthly meetings just to make sure and ask, what do you need from us, how can we support you. I’m proud to see they are interested and want that education.”
Signs of Hope works closely with LVMPD and the District Attorney’s office as well as local shelters and organizations to provide resources and support, including Safenest and the Shade Tree. “We don’t do this work alone, we have a community alongside us and folks who are out with us daily,” Small says. “It can’t be done alone. Everyone has their niche.”
Signs of Hope also identified other nonprofits to receive financial support from the host committee and the NFL, including: The Embracing Project, which offers support to youth survivors of trafficking; the B.E. A S.H.E.R.O. Foundation, which educated and trains in the prevention and intervention of sex trafficking with a focus on young women and girls; St. Jude’s Ranch for Children, which offers a home for child victims; and It’s a Penalty, which runs large-scale campaigns raising awareness of human trafficking during major sports events around the world.
EXTENDING COMMUNITY IMPACT
The first Super Bowl in Las Vegas was always touted as a big win in terms of exposure and economic impact, but creating a long-lasting positive impact for residents of the Las Vegas Valley is an expected byproduct and the goal of the host committee.
“My charge coming into this position is to create legacy,” says Boyce. “It’s not to prepare for the Super Bowl; it’s to leave a lasting impact so when the Super Bowl comes back, people will be excited for it. There’s nothing about the work being done that is temporary.”
The host committee is a temporary entity that liasons between the host destination and the NFL, she says, negotiating all the facets of the various relationships surrounding the event. The committee has a nonprofit charities arm that focuses on community affairs, and in addition to specialized areas of focus like trafficking and homelessness, it collaborates with the NFL Foundation and local partners with several initiatives.
One of them is the Legacy Grant program, which is providing $3 million to Las Vegas nonprofits. During an event December 5 at Caesars Forum, 29 local nonprofit organizations and initiatives were granted $1.2 million by the foundation and committee partners and Bank of America, Bank of Nevada, PNC Bank and the United Way. Among those recipients were 100 Black Men of Las Vegas, Communities in Schools, Green Our Planet, Habitat for Humanity, the Urban Chamber of Commerce, Three Square and the Nevada Youth Challenge Program.
The Game Day Grants program will provide the other $1.8 million to other nonprofits which have applied for funding; the deadline is January 5.
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