Sings of Hope teaming up with Las Vegas police to combat human trafficking during F1

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — With Formula 1 less than a few days away, Signs of Hope Las Vegas is partnering with Las Vegas Metro police and Formula 1 to crack down on human trafficking.

Over thousands of people are expected to attend F1 and large crowds mean safety concerns.

"Because of our partnership with them, they understand the necessary resource to address the capacity issues during these large events," Kim Small, Signs of Hope CEO remarked.

In 2023, Signs of Hope encountered more than a thousand human trafficking victims and has served more than 500 survivors. F1 made a $50,000 donation to the nonprofit, Signs of Hope CEO Kim Small said the money will go towards helping victims and survivors of human trafficking and sexual violence.

"It's not only going to go towards our human trafficking division, but it'll also support our sexual assault advocates as well as our prevention education, during this time it's important to get out into the community and educate the community on who we are, what we do and what to look for," Small added. "What that looks like is providing resources such as housing, transportation, emergency shelter, food, cards, Lyft rides to safety. Stays at hotels for safety reasons, clothing as well. It provides the necessary resources for those in the moment and even afterwards, just care."

Lori Nelson-Kraft, the Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Las Vegas Grand Prix said this is an important issue to address in our community in keeping locals and visitors safe.

"It's incumbent upon all of us when it comes to public safety net resources that are needed to be of support and see what we can do. So we're really pleased to have partnered with Signs of Hope not only in a monetary donation but we will be having a public service announcement campaign throughout our entire event footprint that we've created signage with hotline information available which can be found in restrooms and washing stations," Nelson-Kraft explained.

Signs of Hope is always looking for volunteers to help with the hotlines and community outreach. It is open to residents of Nevada and will require completion of our 50-hour advocacy training, background check, and drug test. For more information,.