IN OUR BACKYARD

IN OUR BACKYARD Linking Arms Across America In The Fight Against Human Trafficking. At the request of the U.S. IOB received 501(c)(3) status in 2016.

In Our Backyard (IOB) was established in 2009, when a new awareness of human trafficking brought IOB founder, Nita Belles, to realize that there was no option to “stand on the sidelines” of this atrocity. Marshall over human trafficking for Oregon, Central Oregonians Against Trafficking Humans (CO-OATH) was created to undertake work surrounding human trafficking in Central Oregon. Since then, CO-O

ATH has integrated into In Our Backyard, where the work continues. From 2009 to the present, some of the things In Our Backyard has focused on are:
- Eradicating s*x trafficking at significant events, including the Super Bowl.
- Raising awareness.
- Providing expert advice on local and national human trafficking legislative issues.
- Working with local first responders and medical and mental health professionals to help potential human trafficking victims and managing programs like the Freedom Sticker Campaign and now the Convenience Store Against Trafficking (CSAT) Program. In addition, IOB welcomes volunteers, interns, and committed donors to link arms across America in the fight against human trafficking.

Do you link arms with us beyond Central Oregon? Give your support from anywhere! Our Annual Freedom Fundraiser: Disco Ro...
09/04/2026

Do you link arms with us beyond Central Oregon?

Give your support from anywhere!

Our Annual Freedom Fundraiser: Disco Rodeo is coming up October 16, and we would love to have you join us for an incredible evening supporting the work of In Our Backyard!

Whether you join us at the Disco Rodeo or support the mission in another way, there’s a place for you in this work.

Here are a few ways you can make an impact:

✨ Join us at the Annual Freedom Fundraiser
✨ Make a financial gift in any amount
✨ Become a monthly Freedom Partner
✨ Donate an item or experience to our fundraiser auction
✨ Share our mission and invite others to be part of it

Every gift, every partnership, and every person who shares our mission helps equip communities with education, resources, and tools to prevent human trafficking and connect people with pathways to safety.

Join us. Give. Partner. Share.

However you choose to be part of the mission, you are helping make prevention possible.

Learn more and find your way to make an impact at InOurBackyard.org.

Awareness can make a difference, and sometimes, it starts with one person simply paying attention. During our Super Bowl...
08/28/2026

Awareness can make a difference, and sometimes, it starts with one person simply paying attention.

During our Super Bowl Missing Children Outreach, IOB volunteer Mike stopped at a convenience store to share a Missing Children Booklet. A clerk carefully looked through the photos and believed he recognized one of the children.

That moment became more than a conversation. It became a report that could help reach a child in need.

This is why we show up. This is why awareness matters. And this is why every volunteer, every conversation, and every set of eyes can make a difference.

Together, awareness becomes a lifeline.

Learn how you can get involved at InOurBackyard.org

Convenience stores can be a lifeline. 💙In Our Backyard Executive Director Cheryl Csiky joined Chris Elliott, Executive D...
08/27/2026

Convenience stores can be a lifeline. 💙

In Our Backyard Executive Director Cheryl Csiky joined Chris Elliott, Executive Director of BP Amoco Marketers Association, on the Convenience Matters podcast to talk about the important role convenience stores can play in preventing human trafficking and creating safer communities.

Hosted by Jeff Lenard of NACS, the conversation highlights what can happen when an entire industry links arms, raises awareness, equips communities, and helps connect human trafficking survivors to services.

🎧 Listen to Episode 543: Fight Against Human Trafficking of the Convenience Matters podcast.

Together, awareness becomes a lifeline.

Learn more at inourbackyard.org

✨ Saddle up, Central Oregon—it’s time to Disco Rodeo! 🪩🤠We’re excited to announce In Our Backyard’s Annual Freedom Fundr...
08/25/2026

✨ Saddle up, Central Oregon—it’s time to Disco Rodeo! 🪩🤠

We’re excited to announce In Our Backyard’s Annual Freedom Fundraiser on October 16!

Pull on your boots, add a little sparkle, and join us for an unforgettable evening filled with great food, drinks, a silent auction, inspiring stories, and plenty of fun—all while supporting the work of In Our Backyard to prevent human trafficking, protect children, and create pathways to freedom.

Together, we can make a difference right here in Central Oregon and beyond.

🎟️ Grab your tickets, invite your friends, and come Disco Rodeo with us!

Learn more and get your tickets at www.inourbackyard.org

Human trafficking isn’t just something that happens “somewhere else.” Exploitation can happen in our own communities—and...
08/21/2026

Human trafficking isn’t just something that happens “somewhere else.” Exploitation can happen in our own communities—and increasingly, technology and the internet can be used to reach, manipulate, and exploit vulnerable people.

But awareness is powerful. 💛

When we know what to look for, create safe spaces for honest conversations, and make sure children and adults know where they can turn for support, we help build communities where exploitation is harder to hide.

These statistics are not identities. Behind every number is a person with a voice, a future, and the right to safety, dignity, and freedom.

**Learn the signs. Start the conversation. Be part of prevention.**

To learn more about human trafficking, prevention, and how you can take action, visit **[www.InOurBackyard.org](http://www.InOurBackyard.org)**.

📣Prevention is worth the read:Bend man arrested after alleged explicit texts to teen in undercover police operation.Publ...
08/21/2026

📣Prevention is worth the read:
Bend man arrested after alleged explicit texts to teen in undercover police operation.

Published August 20, 2026 4:04 pm

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A 47-year-old Bend resident was arrested Thursday on suspicion of luring a minor for s*xual conduct and online s*xual corruption of a minor. Collin Evan Fogel was taken into custody following an investigation involving an undercover officer.

Bend Police received an initial report on July 31 after a man approached a 16-year-old girl at a neighborhood pool. The man asked for her phone number under the pretext of hiring her to babysit his child, but subsequently sent text messages that made the teenager uncomfortable.

An officer took over the text communication with Fogel while pretending to be the teenager. Police said Fogel repeatedly sent s*xually explicit messages and images during the exchange.

At approximately 12:44 p.m. Thursday, the officer posing as the teenager agreed to meet Fogel in a parking lot in the 61300 block of South Highway 97. Officers arrested Fogel when he arrived at the scene and he was held at the Deschutes County Jail.

By Campbell Porter

https://ktvz.com/news/2026/08/20/bend-man-arrested-after-alleged-explicit-texts-to-teen-in-undercover-police-operation/?fbclid=IwZnRzaAT00RRwZG9mBWZkaWQWUM5CKqOwgSa9RCFjGlEnx6P5VGEQsGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR4LCa9KEOkVbqGnMQoVzrKsDuywyjTvkxhvY1JEdwWOBpVYfiKXpsArl5cYaw_aem_DKNfKUoPW78SLAH0x6ArlA

*xtraffickingprevention

Today is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.Prevention begins with awareness, but it doesn't end there. It grows t...
07/30/2026

Today is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.

Prevention begins with awareness, but it doesn't end there. It grows through education, meaningful conversations, strong partnerships, and communities that choose to look out for one another.

Ending human trafficking takes all of us—parents, educators, businesses, law enforcement, volunteers, and neighbors—linking arms to build safer communities.

Today, we invite you to be part of the solution:
• Learn the signs.
• Start the conversation.
• Share this message.
• Help bring hope to someone who may need it.

Together, we can build safer communities and create more pathways to freedom.

🔗 Learn more at inourbackyard.org

Celebrate World Cup Collaboration that fights for the one! https://da.santaclaracounty.gov/bay-area-task-force-rescues-5...
07/24/2026

Celebrate World Cup Collaboration that fights for the one!

https://da.santaclaracounty.gov/bay-area-task-force-rescues-53-human-trafficking-victims-during-world-cup-games

We are honored and grateful to work with folks who care, listen to survivors, and create pathways to freedom! Volunteers, community partners, dedicated survivors, and Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office - DA Jeff Rosen, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, thank you for all you do!

Awareness → Training → Intelligence → Actionable Tips → Investigative Response → Pathways to Freedom

From Awareness to Action

For 17 years, In Our Backyard has used the national attention surrounding the Super Bowl to wake up America to a critical truth: human trafficking is not only happening somewhere far away. It is happening in our own backyards.

What began as a grassroots awareness effort has grown into a proven major-event model focused on both children and adults.

Through In Our Backyard's process, volunteers, businesses, convenience stores, and community partners learn to recognize trafficking indicators, identify concerns responsibly, and understand how to move information through established reporting pathways.

Training leads to action, where qualified teams, technology partners, survivor-informed leadership, and investigative partners work together to develop actionable information to collaboratively help:

• Locate missing children at risk of exploitation at increased speeds
• Identify children and adults who may need support
• Identify suspected traffickers, abusers, and exploitation networks
• Strengthen information available to investigative teams
• Create recovery pathways designed to help, not harm

Since 2009, listening to survivors has strengthened every part of this work. Their insight helps guide how people are trained, how information is handled, and how recovery efforts protect dignity, safety, and choice.

Today, we are bringing this established model from the Super Bowl to the World Cup and other major events.

Turn awareness into action that disrupts trafficking and creates pathways to freedom.

Convenience stores are everyday places, but for many survivors of human trafficking, they can also be a safe moment and ...
07/22/2026

Convenience stores are everyday places, but for many survivors of human trafficking, they can also be a safe moment and a pathway to freedom.

At In Our Backyard, we partner with over 50,000 convenience stores in all 50 states to provide training and place Freedom Stickers inside public restrooms. Survivors have shared that these restrooms are often the only place they’re briefly alone and able to reach out for help.

Freedom Stickers offer a discreet lifeline, a message of hope, and a way to get support fast.

One sticker. One safe moment. One step toward freedom.

Learn more or request Freedom Stickers at [email protected]

World Cup efforts to cheer for!An anti-human trafficking initiative conducted beforeand during the World Cup around New ...
07/22/2026

World Cup efforts to cheer for!
An anti-human trafficking initiative conducted before
and during the World Cup around New Jersey resulted
in 71 arrests and assistance to 97 suspected victims,
officials announced on July 20.

Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, the state Division
of Criminal Justice, and the New Jersey State Police
held a press conference on Monday to discuss the
operations that were conducted with 44 local, county,
state, and federal law enforcement agencies.

“Human trafficking is a serious and often hidden crime
that can have devastating and long-lasting impacts on
victims," said Jeanne Hengemuhle, acting
superintendent of the state police. "We recognize that
large-scale events can create opportunities for
traffickers and other criminal activity, which is why we
took a proactive and forward-thinking approach to
addressing this threat.”

Attorney General Jennifer Davenport speaking at May
31, 2026 press conference.

Working with Covenant House, Volunteers of America
and the state police's Operation RISE, detectives
identified potential victims and helped them with
services such as housing, mental health care and legal
support, along with connecting them to resources such
as treatment for substance abuse disorder, the Attorney
General's Office said in a release.

The 71 arrests included 40 alleged buyers of
commercial s*x during the investigations, which took
place between May and July. The criminal cases are
being handled by county prosecutors’ offices.

“These operations reflect a trauma-informed approach
to addressing the underlying causes of human
trafficking and prostitution,” said Theresa Hilton,
director of the Division of Criminal Justice. “Victims are
being offered support to address their vulnerabilities
and give them a way out. They’re being offered hope
and a path forward to safety, care and hopefully a
better life.”

In the news here ⬇📢
https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/
2026/07/20/world-cup-human-trafficking-initiative-nj-victims-arrests/90986904007/

Join the movement to provide law enforcement
partners, like the NJSP and the DCJ, with actionable
information to help someone in need. Email
[email protected].

Address

45 NW Greeley Avenue (mailing) , 105 NW Greeley Ave
Bend, OR
97703

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Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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