19
WBM
Lee Anna Stoker founded the
Collaborative Against Sex Trafficking
in early 2021 to create an effective
response network through community
partnerships.
Do Better
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com
ALLISON POTTER
BY KRISTIN REESER
“C.A.S.T. is a grassroots, all-hands-on-
deck collaborative that is building a
trafficking response network across our
community,” says Stoker, president of the
organization.
“I looked around our community and
realized that we had underutilized resources,
untapped potential, and problems too
big for any one agency or person to solve.
C.A.S.T. is about addressing trafficking at
a systems level; in a region this size we can
have personal relationships among pro-viders
and collaboration that creates real
solutions.”
C.A.S.T. is partnering with community
problem solvers including Wilmington
Treatment Center, Coastal Horizons Rape
Crisis Center, Domestic Violence Shelter
and Services, Global River Church, The
Salvation Army, A Safe Place, the hospital,
and district attorney’s office. All help make a
difference in the way sex trafficking victims
receive care and protection.
“Our C.A.S.T. partners are identifying
the gaps that exist so that victims can
be properly connected with the right
resources. We’re also training our partners
on the sex trafficking signs to look for and
mapping out a network system of resources
for victims,” says Stoker.