Evelyn Mejil wants you to know her work is your work, too. “This is a fight that belongs to everybody and something that should be on everyone’s agenda,” she says.
Every year, more than 6 million children are abused or neglected in America. And as the executive director at Wynona’s House Child Advocacy Center, Evelyn works to promote justice and healing for child victims. Her organization helps coordinate investigations, prosecution, treatment and preventative services for children and family. It’s an emotionally difficult and often overwhelming job, but it’s also a challenge Evelyn finds invigorating and rewarding.
“We all know the saying, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’ and that’s very much the reality of my work,” Evelyn says. “I have the ability to talk to different community partners from law, medical, mental health and child services, and then bring them together in service of our children.”