Neal to serve as Arkadelphia Rotary guest speaker, April 11, 2014

The Arkadelphia Rotary Club will meet Friday, April 11, 2014, at Western Sizzlin, 106 WP Malone Drive, for its weekly meeting. Ms. Christa Neal has been invited to serve as guest speaker and will provide an update on the new Clark County Child Safety Center. Rotarians and guests are invited to attend. For more information on the guest speaker, please read her brief biography below. 

CHRISTA NEAL is originally from Greenwood, Arkansas, and first moved to Arkadelphia to attend Ouachita Baptist University. Neal earned her B.S. in Psychology from OBU, where she met her husband, Jay Neal. The couple moved to Northwest Arkansas where Christa attended grad school at John Brown University while Jay worked to complete law school at the University of Arkansas. She graduated with a masters degree in marriage and family therapy and community counseling and has since worked in a variety of settings as a therapist.

Neal has experience working in a community clinic, a facility for homeless teens and young adults, and in several school districts. During her time as a mental health therapist, she met many children and adults who had experienced some sort of physical, emotional, or sexual trauma. Neal received specialized trauma-focused training and is the founding director of the Clark County Child Safety Center. The Center is in the process of opening, and as such, it is important to build awareness of the facility and its services. Community support will be necessary as the Center's staff and advocates work to better inform the public about child abuse, how to help reduce the number of occurrences in our area, and how to donate to the Center.

Neal and her husband have a precious 4-month-old little girl named Georgia Faye and reside in Arkadelphia. She is also involved in the community as a member of Junior Auxiliary.