CASA - Court Appointed Special Advocates

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

I know there are a lot of volunteers and folks involved with their community here, so I'm going to share a program I've been participating in about 2 1/2 years ago.

It's a non-profit organization established to train community volunteers to speak for the best interests of neglected and abused children in court. There are 900 CASA programs nationwide, so likely one near you. I encourage you to watch the video,

http://www.nationalcasa.org/movies/lifelong.wmv

and check out their website

www.nationalcasa.org (http://www.nationalcasa.org)

Locate other CASA chapters (http://www.nationalcasa.org/htm/find-casa.htm)

Just wanted to share the information for those that may be interested.

[DeV]

My mom has been a CASA volunteer for as long as I can remember so I can validate that this is a really great opportunity to advocate for children and to help improve the quality of their lives. It truly is enriching as volunteerism often is.

[Gan]

Thanks for the link SHM.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

Oh, I meant to mention this in my first post. My best friend from college was a product of the foster care system, and he had some pretty sombering stories about growing up in it, is why I originally got involved when I heard about CASA. I really feel it's one of the better programs out there, and it is tremendously rewarding.

[Gan]

I dont have a time slot for it currently; however, I"m saving the info so when I wrap up a few projects I'm involved with I'll look more into becoming an advocate. I really like this program.

[SpunGirl]

It's an awesome thing to do with volunteer time; my Grandma Carolyn has been with CASA for ages and ages. She still gets letters from some of the kids she's worked with.

-K

[Danical]

I don't know how I missed this but I interned at the San Luis Obispo chapter and it was an amazing experience.

Highly recommend it.

EDIT: Bump Worthy.