Edds
LAURINBURG — In his new role as director of donor development for Falcon Children’s Home and Family Services, the Rev. Michael Edds of Laurinburg has been very busy.
Edds is the former senior pastor of Cross Pointe Church. During his tenure there, he oversaw the construction of the 14,000-square-foot facility that Cross Pointe now enjoys. His grant-writing skills brought in more than $315,000 for the construction phase of the church.
Since retiring this past September, Edds has been submitting numerous grant proposals and partnering with a variety of organizations to provide new funding and supplies for Falcon Children’s Home in Falcon. Since joining the Falcon staff on Oct. 1, 2020, more than $193,000 in funding, equipment, supplies and materials have come in through his office.
A Falcon project dear to his heart is the Magnolia Hope Residential Program for underage victims of sexual trafficking. Falcon Executive Director Joey Leggett and a dedicated team have worked diligently to establish this urgently needed program in North Carolina.
Partnering with 16 agencies, Falcon Children’s Home has chosen to intervene in the horrific darkness of human sex trafficking by establishing the only licensed program for commercially sexually exploited children in North Carolina. Called Magnolia Hope, the program will open during the summer of 2021. Housed in an eight-bedroom, 5,000 square feet home in an undisclosed location in the Cumberland County region, the program will provide 24-hour, secure residential care for up to two years. It will include trauma-informed counseling, mentorship, on-site school classes, vocational and life skill training, medical, legal, and mental health services, substance abuse treatment, equine therapy, and music and art classes.
“Human trafficking is the second largest criminal industry in the world and the fastest growing,” Edds stated. “Globally, there are 27 million people being held in captivity. This is the equivalent of the population of 20 U.S. states — and 98% involve women and girls; 100,000 to 300,000 U.S. children are commercially sexually exploited yearly in the U.S.”
He added more statistics:
— The average age a child enters the US sex trade is 12 to 14 years old.
— Profits from forced sexual labor are estimated at $99 billion worldwide.
— North Carolina is ranked minth in the nation in cases of human trafficking.
— Cumberland County exceeds the largest urban areas in the state for new human trafficking.
— Two out of five people charged with trafficking offenses in the state were in the Cumberland County region.
As director of donor development for Falcon, Edds has submitted several grant proposals to assist with the establishment of Magnolia Hope. The Cumberland Community Foundation just recently announced that it was awarding a $20,300 grant for the Magnolia Hope Program.
“This is exciting news!” Edds said. “Falcon Children’s Home is immensely appreciative of the partnership of the Cumberland Community Foundation in this much needed program. Their partnership will help provide hope and a new life for youth, who are victims of sexual trafficking.”
Additionally, $7,500 in other grant funding has been received. Edds is awaiting responses from other foundations to which proposals were submitted..