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Shelly Strom produces communications that win hearts and minds. Propelled by curiosity and an acute ability for finding and telling stories that are interesting and engaging, Shelly learned the trade while writing for newspapers in Oregon and Washington. 

Shared Hope keeps up fight against sex trafficking

For The Columbian

Organization founded by Linda Smith a leader in protecting victims

By Shelly Strom, for The Columbian

Linda Smith could not have predicted the turn her life would take one night in November of 1998. She was wrapping up the final months of her term in the U.S. House of Representatives and wanted to see with her own eyes what until then she’d only heard about in Congress.

“I was told children were for sale in cages on the street corners of India,” Smith said. “I thought it was mostly hyperbole.”

Within hours of arriving on Mumbai’s notorious Falkland Road, Smith learned what she heard had zero hyperbole.

“It turned out to be a street paved with brothel stalls, a hell on earth. Ruthless brothel owners prostitute thousands of young girls here to satisfy the throngs of men,” Smith would end up writing in her 2014 book, “From Congress to the Brothel.”

The next day Smith began reaching out to her base, securing $40,000 within hours. It would be enough to lease an apartment building where some of the women and girls she’d met the night before could seek refuge.

Back home a few days later, Smith had new clarity and determination. “I had been considering a run for governor of Washington,” she said.

Instead, she got to work dismantling her political life. Read more.

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