More than a bar of soap

“Have you seen this person?”

The simple question hangs in the air, cutting through the outside noise of steady spring rain hitting the cool pavement.

Senior Bailey Flohre, the student who asked, stands at the front desk of a dilapidated motel lobby. In one hand, she holds a piece of paper with the faces of missing children printed on it; in the other, a cherry-red bag filled with bars of soap.

It’s one stop of many for Flohre and her team of five students this stormy Saturday morning. Their pack is a part of the anti-human trafficking advocacy course taught by Tony Talbott, adjunct professor of human rights studies, director of Abolition Ohio and director of advocacy for UD’s Human Rights Center.

His class is participating in the annual SOAP Up the First Four project, an initiative and acronym that stands for Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution, which takes place at the start of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament opening round in Dayton. Teresa Flores ’07, a survivor of child trafficking, founded The SOAP Project in 2009.

Spring semester, Talbott’s students learned about the prevalence of human trafficking in the Miami Valley. Then they got to become advocates against it.

“Our goal is to not just learn about human trafficking, it’s to actually disrupt human trafficking, to reduce and eventually end it.”

“Our goal is to not just learn about human trafficking, it’s to actually disrupt human trafficking, to reduce and eventually end it,” Talbott said.  

“These boots on the ground are God’s work. [Human trafficking] is happening in our backyards. Events like this are a voice [for survivors].” 

The event began in the lobby of Keller Hall, where volunteers — including Sisters of the Precious Blood, UD and local high school students, nonprofit organization staffers and trafficking survivors — joined together to share stories and firsthand accounts of human trafficking.

A survivor, who asked for her name not to be used, spoke about the impact of the SOAP event. 

“These boots on the ground are God’s work,” she said. “[Human trafficking] is happening in our backyards. Events like this are a voice [for survivors].” 

When the time came to break off into groups and go out into the field, each team received a list of nearby hotels, motels or shelters they were to visit and red bags filled with materials to distribute. 

The team first passed folders with information about The SOAP Project and instructions for employees to hotel desk attendants, explaining that the palm-sized soap bars and disposable makeup wipes in the bag should be placed in every bathroom. Each soap and wipe was labeled with the National Human Trafficking Hotline number.

These small steps can create big change in the Miami Valley, Talbott said, equipping students with the knowledge to recognize human trafficking and offer support to those impacted by it.  

Said Flohre, “There are stories and research you learn in this class that will change, or at least strongly influence, your outlook on how you live your life.”

For Talbott’s students, learning about these tough concepts in the classroom is one thing, but it’s another to participate in advocacy work as hopeful as The SOAP Project.

“When you hear stories from survivors and read about the force, fraud and coercion that people deal with, giving up a Saturday really doesn’t compare,” Flohre said. “If waking up before 11 a.m. on a weekend means someone experiencing human trafficking in my community has access to a bar of soap with the trafficking hotline number on it, I’ll never sleep in again.”  

To report a tip, connect with anti-trafficking services in your area, or request training or general information, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888 or text “HELP” to 233733. More about Abolition Ohio, including a list of coalition partners, is available at go.udayton.edu/abolitionohio.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SYLVIA STAHL '18

A version of this article appears in print in the Summer 2026 University of Dayton Magazine, Page 10. EXPLORE THE ISSUE — MORE ONLINE