WASHINGTON, D.C. — Buckner International President/CEO Albert L. Reyes and Buckner Children and Family Services Vice President Henry Jackson recently met with Sen. James Lankford to discuss ways to stabilize and strengthen families in Latin America where children are vulnerable to human trafficking and extreme poverty.

Many Latin American families are subject to the pressures of poverty, hunger and human trafficking, leaving families desperate and hopeless. In an effort to improve their situations, thousands of families are undertaking risky efforts to immigrate to the United States.

Buckner Family Hope Centers provide a variety of ministries to impoverished families in six countries beyond the United States, including Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Peru and Dominican Republic. These efforts strengthen families and help them achieve financial self-sustainability, improving their lives and relieving the need to immigrate.

“Poverty is destabilizing families across Latin America,” Reyes said. “Children are struggling and are vulnerable to human trafficking. It is a great honor to work with a man of character like Sen. Lankford on issues like this to help vulnerable children while also helping resolve immigration issues in our country.”

Buckner International is a global, faith-based ministry dedicated to transforming the lives of orphans, vulnerable children, families and elders in the United States and around the world. Founded in 1879 in Dallas, Texas, today Buckner serves people through a variety of programs designed to protect children and build strong families. These programs include foster care and adoption, family transition programs, community-based family preservation programs and retirement services for the elderly. Buckner also provides humanitarian aid and crisis relief to poverty-stricken families in the United States and worldwide.