I’ve always believed that if you have been blessed enough to have a relatively safe upbringing you personally owe it to those that have not. It was for this reason, as I entered my 50’s contemplating how to pay it back, that my mission became clear. I was going to empower girls, and women on the fringe of society, caught in the vicious cycle of sex trafficking through my abilities as a fitness professional to help heal their bodies, minds and spirits. 

What began as trial and error, hosting exercise classes at Naunihal a safe house for girls in Mumbai, India with the help of my master trainer Nisha Rathod, quickly blossomed into 3-2-1 Empower’s goal of changing girls lives. As a 501c3 our mission grew to not only provide personal wellness but by offering a chance at a career to become certified fitness trainers and providing an opportunity to live independently. As we watched our 20 plus young trainers graduate we knew we were on the right track. 

While India (the country of my parents’ birth) became the pilot for our foundation, we soon learned that the atrocity of trafficking girls and women takes place globally. There are approximately 200,00 American children at risk for trafficking into the sex industry each year in the US.

Meanwhile in my beloved hometown in Canada, I was shocked to learn what once was a relatively safe place, now required an agency (Victims Services) with a need for rescuing and assisting young girls in the community who had been sex trafficked. My heart broke meeting one such young girl, barely 16 years old having survived such trauma but this only made our organization (incredible board members Denise Villanueva, Dawn Maniglia and Savita Iyer) even more committed to our cause to bring awareness to an issue found in our backyards. 

Over the past few years we have connected with homes in the US who have welcomed our programming citing the fact that currently there is no exercise element in the Rescue to Recovery program for Survivors. As I look ahead, along with building awareness, certifying survivors, working with homes to provide programming in exercise and nutrition, I see a great need to make fitness a required missing piece of the puzzle.