HALT Human Trafficking Fund Awards Grants to Four Nebraska Organizations

The HALT Human Trafficking Fund continues to aid the fight against human exploitation with a new round of grants awarded to BraveBe, HTI Labs, Innocence Freed and the Set Me Free Project. These grants will support impactful initiatives focused on preventing human trafficking across Nebraska.

BraveBe
BraveBe will implement the Love146 Not a Number prevention curriculum to provide structured, evidence-informed trafficking prevention education to youth ages 12-18 across southeast Nebraska. Through school and youth-serving partnerships, the program uses interactive, discussion-based lessons to equip youth with the skills to recognize grooming tactics, exploitation risks, and unsafe online behaviors, while strengthening protective decision-making and connections to trusted adults. By focusing on early prevention and risk recognition, this project helps reduce youth vulnerability to human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation across both rural and urban Nebraska communities.

HTI Labs
HTI Labs will strengthen the development and delivery of targeted human trafficking identification and response training for Nebraska Division of Children and Family Services staff, with a focus on both Hotline and Field roles. By helping child welfare professionals better recognize trafficking risk and respond appropriately at key points of contact across both initial intake and ongoing case interactions, this project strengthens Nebraska’s capacity for earlier identification, more consistent intervention, and stronger prevention within the child welfare system.

Innocence Freed
Innocence Freed will lead the Truth Uncovered: Human Trafficking Prevention & Awareness Campaign, delivering survivor-informed education across Nebraska through public events and community trainings. Unlike traditional education nonprofits, Innocence Freed brings a front-line perspective shaped by over 14 years of direct work with survivors, providing insight that is real, relevant, and actionable. This project will equip more than 1,000 individuals to recognize trafficking and take action, helping prevent exploitation before it begins.

Set Me Free Project
The Set Me Free Project’s (SMFP) Students Against Trafficking (SAT) pilot initiative establishes student-led campus chapters that increase awareness of human trafficking risks and prevention strategies among college students and youth-serving communities. SAT builds upon SMFP’s READY to Stand Curriculum, which equips participants with the knowledge and tools needed to identify vulnerabilities and prevent trafficking before exploitation occurs. Through this pilot initiative, student leaders will receive curriculum training and support to host educational events, peer learning opportunities, and awareness campaigns on their campuses. One chapter is up and running, another is underway, and three more schools are interested in developing chapters of their own. Funding from the HALT Fund will support four key components: training student leaders through the READY to Stand Curriculum, developing campus-based prevention workshops led by trained students, supporting student-organized awareness events and peer education activities, and providing staff support to mentor chapters and guide program implementation.

“Preventing human trafficking, whether labor or sex trafficking, requires strong partnerships and sustained support,” said Richard Baier, NBA President & CEO. “These grants reinforce the important work happening on the ground to protect at-risk Nebraskans statewide.”

Human trafficking occurs across the state in communities of all sizes. The Nebraska Attorney General's Human Trafficking Task Force reported calls to the Nebraska Human Trafficking Hotline from every corner of the state. If you suspect human trafficking, call the Nebraska Human Trafficking Hotline at 833-PLS-LOOK (833-757-5665).

If you are a victim or need help, call or text for confidential, 24/7 assistance. The National Human Trafficking Hotline is available in more than 200 languages. Call 1-888-373-7888 or text 233733 (BeFree).

​The HALT Human Trafficking Fund was established in 2024 by the Nebraska banking industry and is supported by community stakeholders. Grants are awarded to Nebraska-based nonprofits, government entities and educational institutions for projects that provide education or leverage technology to prevent trafficking. The next grant cycle will open in fall 2026. Visit haltfund.org for more information.