CUADRADO Nani

Director Of Education For Heal

One of her first major projects with HEAL was developing a Human Trafficking Response Protocol for Lehigh Valley Health Network, which was rolled out in emergency departments this past April. Cuadrado says the triage nurses, as the first line of defense, now have the tools they need to react appropriately when something seems off: “What do you do when you have your Spidey senses tingling? We’ve trained them on different red flags that would make them suspicious.” The program will be rolled out to other LVHN departments and facilities in the months and years ahead.

While the shift from an on-the-street PA to a behindthe-scenes advocate is a change, she hopes her work will be equally impactful. “The ‘why’ is my patients, because they’ve taught me everything about this. What it looks like, and what it looks like here in our community,” says Cuadrado. And she’s encouraged by the groundswell of support for trafficking victims in the Lehigh Valley. “We have great backing here,” says Cuadrado. “We have shelters in the area, we have aid centers for survivors and victims, we have law enforcement that’s behind us.”

Who is Chloe Cole?

“I’m an artist, a poet, an advocate for young people,” she says. Cole is also someone who understands the importance of having a safe space that serves as both a refuge and an incubator for creativity. Born and raised in Allentown, Cole says she struggled with a number of challenges, including violence and trauma. She wasn’t sure she’d graduate from high school on time. She credits the city’s Xcape Dance Studio with saving her life. “That program really shaped who

I am as a creator, as an artist, as a professional,” Cole says. Now she’s returning the favor through a pair of projects that aim to empower and inspire the LGBTQ+ and the BIPOC communities. “This is my way of giving back to the community and ensuring that those spaces are available for people.”

Cole was a co-founder in 2015 of Basement Poetry, a group that combines performance, community and collaboration.

“The work that we do is to challenge ideas,