Sisters from North Central Regina are giving out free rides and raising awareness of human trafficking

Avanna Noname was at work one nightand couldn't stop thinking about a friend whose younger sister has been missing since April.

"[I] kept thinking and thinking about what if it was my daughter," she said.

"I'm so scared that's my biggest fear for me to wake up and not see my daughter again, and not know what's happening to her. So I said, something has to be done."

Her fear for her 10-year-old child and her pain over other Indigenous women and girls who have gone missing or been murdered inspired her to start up a voluntary ride-sharing service to deliver people home safely.

Through a Facebook group called Regina Human Trafficking Prevention, Noname and her sisterhave begun taking messages from people who need a ride and volunteering to drive them. Now they're looking for other volunteers who may be willing to get a criminal record check and help offer rides.

On Sunday, the Noname sisters invited people to gather with them on Dewdney Park for a walk raising awareness of human trafficking and their service.

"We all have kids, we have jobs, it's really hard," she said. "But this is a priority for us right now."

Another issue driving their efforts is the fact that Indigenous women feel afraid of taking cabs, she said. Women report having bad experiences with taxi drivers who've made inappropriate comments or who've driven them out of the way of their destination, said Noname.

The Noname sisters say if they see people walking on the streets at night, rather than taking a taxi, they'll step in to offer their help.

"This lady, she had two babies with her at one in the morning, walking home. She missed the bus, so I just offered her a ride and got her home," said Noname. "She was quite grateful."

People are responding with donations and words of support, but right now, there's only the two sisters and several calls a night that come in.

"It breaks my heart when I see someone say, 'Hey, I'm an 11-year-old girl and I really need a ride home at 2 o'clock in the morning. And we missed it because we were out with someone else," Noname said.

"We really need help with this."

Winnipeg group offers advice

A more established group in Winnipeg is showing how a ride-sharing service can get off the ground and find lasting success.

Christine Brouzes is co-director of a group in Winnipeg called Ikwe Safe Rides, which has 17,000 members on Facebook.

In the three years since Ikwe drivers have been on the road, others have approached the group to ask how they too can make themselves similarly successful.

"They need to know how to get organized," Brouzes said, explaining volunteers need to understand the risks of offering rides, check with cities on the bylawsand register as a non-profit to develop a level of organization.

The payoff is having a service where people can feel safe and comfortable, she said.

"When we take a ride, we laugh, we chat, we share stories, we listen," she said.

"You should be able to get in a car and get where you want to go, period."