Day Star is a community mentoring and education program developed by Catholic Charities East Bay to engage and empower those impacted by human trafficking through relationship building, increasing awareness, and advocacy.
Day Star Mentoring & CSEC Education
What is Day Star?
CSEC
The acronym CSEC refers to both the action (Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children) and the individual (Commercially Sexually Exploited Child). Human trafficking, both of sex and labor, is happening across the world, and the Bay Area is a local and international hub for these abuses. Children are targeted as early as age 12 and exploited not only by strangers but also by trusted people in their lives. Homelessness and lack of supports increases their risk for exploitation.
Upcoming Events
What We Do
Day Star connects survivors of sexual exploitation with members of the community and empowers advocates to increase awareness about CSE and help decrease demand.
How We Do It
- Provide survivor-informed training to Catholic churches as well as interfaith and secular communities across the Diocese of Oakland (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties).
- Develop and support qualified youth mentors in building relationships with survivors.
- Energize the Diocesan network to advocate and raise awareness at the local, state, and national level.
- Offer culturally responsive, trauma-informed training to families raising youth impacted by exploitation.
Mentor Your Parish
The Diocese of Oakland is a rich hub of active, involved and passionate people who feel called to walk in faith towards ending oppression. We are interested in partnering with you to support your church. Want to fundraise? Host awareness events? Push changes in public policy? Come get training and resources through Day Star to bring
back to your church!
Raising a Parent
Often times, we focus on raising healthy children and ignore or minimize the impact of developing healthy parents. Day Star is committed to supporting parents and caregivers in learning more about Commercial Exploitation and Human Trafficking with a goal of creating stable and successful home environments for CSEC survivors.
Mentor a Young Person
Young people whose lives have been impacted by trauma, poverty, systemic oppression, and/or violence are often the most eager to learn about the possibilities of a bright future. Are you interested in walking with them on their journey? Day Star can support you in learning more about the youth we serve, training you on the needs of at-risk youth and survivors, and matching you with an inspiring young person. This year-long commitment will hopefully create a lifelong bond.