NW Valley Times

Paityn Reece, a recent graduate of Grand Canyon University (GCU), has found her calling in Childhelp, one of GCU’s newest community partners. As an eighth grader in Montana, Reece wrote an essay about a charity that supports victims of child abuse, a topic she was unfortunately familiar with. Her compelling essay won her grade's competition and led to a donation to Childhelp.

Years later, while searching for jobs on the GCU career platform Career Connections, Reece came across an opportunity at Childhelp. She recalled her eighth-grade essay and applied for the position. "I submitted my resume, closed my computer and said a quick prayer. Then I opened it back up, and I already had an interview within a span of a few minutes," she shared.

During her interview with Childhelp, Reece recounted the story of her eighth-grade essay. The revelation stunned her interviewers and ultimately led to her employment with the Phoenix-based national nonprofit.

Reece now assists Childhelp founders Sara O’Meara and Yvonne Fedderson, who were actresses in the 1950s sitcom “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” Today they lead one of the largest nonprofit child abuse prevention and treatment organizations in the United States.

Reece also witnessed firsthand how Childhelp’s partnership with GCU has developed over the past three years. In 2022, she attended O’Meara's speech to GCU’s Honors students about plans to build a Childhelp Global Village near the University’s campus. Later that spring, she was present when University President Brian Mueller announced plans to develop an academic institute researching vulnerable populations like victims of child abuse.

Although GCU wasn't Reece's first choice for college - she initially planned on attending Washington State University - she felt drawn to it. She arrived at GCU in July without ever having visited Arizona or the campus, but she felt at peace. She knew she was in the right place.

Reece's experiences as a child led her to Childhelp and inspired her to make a difference. During her time at GCU, she volunteered with Changing Lives Outreach, co-facilitating social/emotional learning groups in K12 schools near GCU. She also spent her spring break serving in a local church in Nepal.

Now a graduate, Reece continues to work for Childhelp and has begun her first post-graduation job as a behavior mentor at the Rite Path counseling clinic. She works with at-risk students at two residential schools and plans to start graduate school at GCU later this year for clinical health counseling with an emphasis in child and adolescent disorders.

“My whole story has been just seeing how God uses all these broken parts of your life. He just has a plan for your life, and that’s, honestly, the most beautiful thing about everybody who goes through Childhelp and their story,” said Reece.