A year in, La Jolla nonprofit continues to build its international aid

A nonprofit with roots in La Jolla is passing its one-year mark of aiding victims of sex trafficking and delivering humanitarian aid to Nigeria. Now, organizers hope to broaden their reach and philanthropy.

In its first year, Lives Transformed has helped rescue 61 women from sex trafficking and equipped them with skills to enable them to enter the workforce, according to the organization.

It also has helped provide medical care for 800 people, sent cooking supplies and financial aid to 100 Nigerian widows and started a “poultry project,” raising chicks for sustainable income. Other donations gave missionaries motorcycles and a minivan to help access hard-to-reach places.

The group promotes its efforts through fliers at churches and information passed along through word of mouth.

Leading the way is founder and board President Noelle Hallman, a La Jolla resident and a professor of corporate and personal finance at the University of San Diego. She previously was a sales manager for Morgan Stanley.

Bishop Collins Chinedu Nwoye, a spiritual leader in Nigeria, serves as program director.

Hallman said God put it on her heart to get involved in the effort after she met Nwoye at a conference two years before and he described dangerous conditions back home. The two stayed connected, leading Hallman to visit Nigeria and explore the idea of forming a nonprofit.

Hallman said a couple of questions came to her mind.

“One, is this person trustworthy? And two, do they have the ability and the network and the resources to put together programs?” Hallman said. “I knew this was the right thing to do.”

Though the effort has religious roots, the mission of Lives Transformed isn’t explicitly evangelical. Its resources are intended to serve anyone, Hallman said.

“We say it’s a gospel without words,” she said. “So we’re never, ever going to put religion down anybody’s throat. … We just want to be the hands and feet of God without saying anything.”

One volunteer who joined the effort is Karen Conde, a La Jolla resident of nearly 30 years. Having known Hallman for nearly two decades, Conde heard about Lives Transformed over coffee with her.

After meeting Nwoye and hearing more about Hallman’s intentions, Conde decided to volunteer with the group.

“There was no doubt in my mind that this is an organization I wanted to be associated with,” she said.

Conde helps with outreach and connecting with local retail establishments for an upcoming silent auction, and is a donor herself. She said she encourages anybody who has compassion for poor and oppressed people to join in.

“For those of us who have kids and grandkids, how could you not help?” she said. “How could you not support in any way you can — whether it’s financially, whether it’s just in prayers [or] supporting the organization in getting the message out to people?”

Fellow La Jollan Mike Munson, Hallman’s friend and fellow volunteer at Sea Change Church, is Lives Transformed’s board vice president and treasurer.

Munson said Hallman’s goal of alleviating global suffering resonated with him, so he draws on his experience in finance for his main role of verifying tax documents for contributors.

Lives Transformed’s upcoming initiatives include a food distribution program, establishing a safe house for rescued girls and the arrival of a new group of girls entering the skill center.

The organization will hold a fundraiser at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, at the La Jolla Country Club, including hors d’oeuvres, wine, a silent auction and “stories of transformation.” Tickets are $100.

All the money raised will go directly toward the group’s mission, Hallman said. She added that she hopes to extend its humanitarian support to Sudan, at the suggestion of Nwoye.

“You continue to just build,” Hallman said. “You build in terms of donations, the impact you’re having. You want ambassadors — people who have a heart toward wanting to help and do whatever they can.”

Learn more about Lives Transformed at livestransformed.org.