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Our Founder

"I’ll never forget the dark pit God reached into and pulled me out of. Even after I was out, my heart was pained for my sisters that were still lost, trapped, tricked, or caught-up in “the life.” So I started Veronica’s Voice to be a light for these wonderful women still surviving in the darkness."

photo of Kristy Childs, founder of Veronica's Voice

Kristy Childs

In 2000, Kristy D. Childs founded Veronica’s Voice, a Kansas City-based organization, named in honor of a murdered sex-trafficked friend, Veronica Neverdusky. Kristy’s vision and passion has been seen through a host of services for victims, as well as education, advocacy and legal work to target the demand and avert entry into the cycle of abuse in prostitution.

 

HONORS & ACHIEVEMENTS

Kristy's life’s work has been recognized with numerous awards and significant legislative work, including:

 

  • Women’s Peacepower Amigas Award

  • Northeast Community Betterment Award

  • Women of the Year 2004 Award from the Metropolitan Business & Professional Women of Greater Kansas City

  • Soroptimist Ruby Award for Women Helping Women

  • Proclamation from Kay Barnes for Kristy’s leadership and advocacy in the issue of violence against women

  • Garnered support for the 2005 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). Defined some of the key language used in this bill

  • Invited to Washington, D.C. to be present when President Bush signed the TVPRA bill into law on January 10, 2006

  • Honored in Washington, D.C. by Shared Hope International for her work

  • Served on the survivor panel for the Combating Demand for Sex Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.

  • Invited by then 2010-Kansas Attorney General, Steve Six, to be a member of the first Kansas Human Trafficking Advisory Board

  • Joined the Hunt Alternative Fund’s Demand Abolition Project’s National Planning Committee

  • Testified on Missouri House Bill 214, which Governor Nixon signed into law on July 12, 2011

  • Received Breaking Free’s Demand Change award for her exemplary work to end sex trafficking

  • Testified on, and was invited to be present when Governor Brownback signed into law, SB 61, on Human Trafficking, on April 22, 2013

  • Honored and recognized by the Zonta Club of Johnson County on International Women’s Day for her tireless dedication to ending commercial sexual exploitation

  • Recognized by the Midwest Sociological Society's Social Action Committee for the Social Action Award in March of 2015

  • Received The Living Legends Award For Service To Humanity, Fight Like A Girl, Empowered For Life, 2018

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