Although her childhood dreams of becoming a Sonic Drive-In carhop didn’t work out, Christa Neal still has that positive charisma. Her upbeat personality is no doubt a good trait to have in her line of work as she deals with a dark reality — child abuse.
The young professional has been leading the Percy and Donna Malone Child Safety Center in Arkadelphia for four years. Neal said she vividly remembers her interview process.
“[State Sen. Percy] Malone (D-Arkadelphia), looked me in the eyes and said, ‘I sure hope yo su really care about these kids the way you say you do.’ I reassured him that I did, and honestly, at that time, I didn’t even realize how deeply driven I would be to help hurting kids. I am so grateful the board of directors took a chance on a young lady with little experience and a lot of passion.”
The mission of the center is to provide a safe place of hope and healing to children and their families who have experienced abuse and other types of trauma, Neal said.
The center is supported through special events, such as the upcoming Denim & Diamonds on Saturday. All proceeds from the barn dance at the Malone Show Barn will support the center’s efforts to target child abuse and neglect in the center’s five-county service area.
The event will feature food, as well as music from the Matt Webb Band. Guests are encouraged to wear their favorite denim apparel and diamonds, whether faux or real.
More importantly, Neal said, guests will hear success stories about the lives of some children who have benefited from the center’s services. For more information, visit pdmcsc.org.
“I feel like there is no greater calling in life than to give precious children the support and love needed to enable them to tell their story and then help them realize that even though an awful chapter of their story may have been written for them, that it is not where it ends,”
Neal said. “They get to finish the book.”
Neal said she has always been passionate about that mission, especially after having family members who were victims of child abuse.
Raising awareness of the prevalence of child abuse and encouraging people to simply talk about the problem are vital to her mission. As executive director of the center, Neal said, she considers talking one of her main jobs.
Many people don’t realize that children are typically abused by adults they know and trust, she said.
“Over 90 percent of the time, a child is sexually abused by someone they know,” Neal said. “That makes it so difficult for the child to speak up about what’s happening, and that is why the prevention education we do in several school districts and with adult groups is so important.”
Neal is a native of Greenwood and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, where she met her husband, Jay Neal, according to her written bio. She is also a licensed professional counselor and a licensed marriage and family therapist. The Neals have two toddler daughters, Georgia and Vivian.
Before working at the child safety center, Neal worked as a therapist in community-clinic settings, private practices and several school districts.
Under her leadership, the child safety center, which officially opened 2 1/2 years ago, has established and expanded its services to include forensic interviewing, child- and family-advocate services, medical exams, mental-health counseling, forensic-medical-exam services, and community outreach and prevention.
The child safety center falls under the larger statewide umbrella of Children’s Advocacy Centers of Arkansas — one of first lady Susan Hutchinson’s platforms.
“I am very grateful for state-level efforts of Sen. and Mrs. Malone and first lady Susan Hutchinson and others in this area,” Neal said. “It is so important to have folks advocating at all levels of this fight. The state-level players and direct-services workers are both so important and equally imperative in continued progress.”
As an organization that is totally funded by donations and grants, support is important at the local level, Neal added.
“We can always use $10 gas cards to give families who need help either making it for the initial interview or medical exam or for the families who return weekly for trauma-focused therapy,” Neal said.
Monetary donations are helpful because they can be used for the less glamorous expenses such as building maintenance and utilities that are necessary to keep things operating.
A future goal is to have a therapy/healing garden behind the center, Neal noted.
“Kids who have experienced significant trauma often have a hard time feeling safe and calm, and this would be a perfect place to enable that.”
Days at the center are as equally filled with healing and hope as they are with hurting and suffering, Neal said.
“Children walk into the center scared and embarrassed, and walk out empowered. Our society has swept child abuse under the rug and kept this evil festering in the dark,” she said.
Neal said that before entering her current field of work, she had no idea how many children are forced to endure horrible situations. She encourages anyone who suspects abuse not to look away, but report it, and give the child an opportunity to tell his or her story. The Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline is (844) SAVEACHILD.
“I believe that every time I talk to a group or teach kids personal body safety or educate a jury on the dynamics of child abuse, I am shining light into a place that needs it so desperately. Every child should know what shouldn’t happen to them and how and who to tell if someone does hurt them. We have to empower children, and we have to educate adults, and that is what we are determined to do.”