Amazing Moms: 'Fighting To Protect All Children'

In honor of Mother's Day, Wisconsin Patch is running a story about an "Amazing Mom" once a day this week. Our next Amazing Mom comes from Robyn Vining, a mom from Wauwatosa. Have an Amazing Mom? E-Mail Scott.Anderson@patch.comand tell us your story!

It’s a mother’s nature to stay awake at night worrying about her kids. But what keeps Wauwatosa mom Robyn Vining awake isn’t just thoughts of her two middle schoolers: It’s her determination to protect vulnerable children across Wisconsin.

For the past 12 years, Vining has worked to end child sex trafficking. She’s a founding board member of Exploit No More, an organization she helped start to protect kids using a three-pronged approach: awareness, advocacy and aftercare.

Exploit No More is preparing to open Freedom House, a safe haven for young girls who have survived sex trafficking. But there is still plenty of work to do: The Milwaukee metro area is known nationally as a hub for human trafficking, and the problem occurs in every county statewide.

“We are in crisis mode in Wisconsin,” notes Vining, who has traveled to Washington, D.C., to talk with her senators about the issue. “Our children should not be for sale.”

Vining, who owns her own successful photography business, is also a founding member of Help Portrait Milwaukee and The Milwaukee Portrait Project, initiatives that serve some of the city’s most vulnerable citizens. Her advocacy work inspired the American Mothers organization to name her the 2017 Wisconsin Mother of the Year, and in 2013 she won the United Way’s Philanthropic 5 Award.

She also recently launched Folio MKE, a collaborative workspace/community for women entrepreneurs. But despite her many accomplishments, Vining insists she’s just the average mom, trying to do her best like everyone else. “One of my favorite things about being a mom is watching other people’s kids grow up, watching fellow parents shape their kids, and watching these kids come into their own,” says Vining. “That’s exciting.”

Vining is running to represent Assembly District 14, which includes parts of Wauwatosa, Brookfield and Milwaukee.

Submitted Photo by Jennifer Brindley Published With Permission