LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Hazel Maxey picked out toys at the annual Santa’s Holiday Gift Drive.
“With toys, we can bring a little bit more cheer to a family, especially the children,” Maxey said
The toys might seem like a small gesture, but they’re actually a big deal for the children Maxey’s organization serves.
“We’re able to reach more children, help children and bring more cheer to the children that we serve so we are very grateful,” she said.
Maxey is the executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Southeast Arkansas in Pine Bluff. For the past three decades, the center has served thousands of children who are victims of sexual and physical abuse.
Hazel Maxey, executive director children’s advocacy center of southeast Arkansas:
“We do forensic interviews, sexual assault exams, therapy and advocacy services so that we can help children in their healing process,” Maxey explained.
In 2024, they saw at least 700 children. Maxey believes the numbers will even higher by the end of this year.
“Children should have the right to be heard and believed and supported because children shouldn’t be hurt because of child maltreatment,” she said.
The team’s ultimate goal is to help children heal so they don’t carry their trauma into adulthood. That is why Rainwater Holt & Sexton has named the Children’s Advocacy Center of Southeast Arkansas as this month’s Difference Maker.
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