A Cause

I'm a firm believer in getting involved in a cause--it connects us to something we love or care about and gets us to see outside of ourselves. A recent cause that I've gotten involved in is CASA. For those of you who don't know, CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate. According to CASA's website,

"The National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association mission is to speak for the best interests of abused and neglected children who are involved in the juvenile courts."

Now, I used to work with foster care teens in San Diego, and I would run into CASA workers every once in a while. I didn't really know what they did, but I did know that the kids always loved them and trusted them (and for a kid in foster care, that's a big step). When I moved to Kentucky, I wanted to get involved with something and I came across the local CASA chapter. I had originally wanted to be a CASA volunteer, which all people who work with the children are, but I found out that the local chapter wasn't up and running yet. I was asked to join the Board, and I did.

We're getting really close to starting to train volunteers, which is very exciting. These kids in the system really need someone who want to be there working with them and who will speak to their best interests. You can physically see the difference a steady and trusting adult makes in the lives of these children.

Part of the problem with the small local chapters is that they don't have enough money to train volunteers and run the program. If you'd like to learn more about CASA in your area, go to their website. If you don't have the time to volunteer, please consider donating to your local CASA chapter--all of them run on donations and grants. To support CASA at Woodlawn (the Boyle/Mercer counties chapter in which I'm involved), go here for contact information or let me know and I'd be happy to give you more information.