Why did you decide to come work for CASA? I wanted to help children from hard places and be able to have a good work life balance for my own family.
What is your professional and educational background? I graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of North Texas in 2013, where I majored in Political Science and minored in Social Sciences. I was an investigator at Child Protective Services for almost two years. In 2015, I came to CASA as a Child Advocacy Specialist. After that, I was promoted to a Child Advocacy Supervisor and was in that role for 5 years. Recently, I was promoted to Assistant Program Director at CASA of Tarrant County.
What first caused you to get involved with CASA? Prior to CASA, I was an investigator with Child Protective Services. At that time, I was a single mother with two elementary school aged children. Being an investigator was demanding on my time, and my work/life balance was basically non-existent. One night, my oldest son looked at me and said, “why do other kids matter more than us?” I put my two week notice in shortly after that. I began researching how to still help children while also prioritizing time for my own children. That is where CASA came in. It’s been over six years and I still get to help children and families, and be present with my own children and family.
What keeps you coming back every month in helping CASA? Absolutely the non-profit paycheck, hands down. Just kidding. I would have to say that the work we do, although hard, is rewarding. Seeing parents get a second chance in life to grow and learn from their mistakes, and then have the opportunity to get their children back when it’s safe is extremely rewarding. Everyone is worthy of redemption. Seeing families step in to provide care and connection to these children during a horrific time for all involved inspires me to be better to my own family. Seeing volunteers and staff take on a burden no one forced them to do while they help to absorb the shock of the system for the children on their cases leaves me humbled. I come back because the work is worth it, the relationships are worth it, and above all, the children and families are worth it.
What has been the most rewarding part of being on staff at CASA? The constant reminder of how much good there is in this world even in the midst of the bad. Our volunteers, my co-workers, families, and partnering agencies that I get to work with daily gives me the brightest silver lining in this work.
Please share a special moment with us about your work with CASA volunteers or supporters. Honestly, this is difficult. After 6 plus years, there are way too many to count. Every time that a volunteer invests in the lives of a parent or a relative is a special moment. Our volunteers have offered so much support and encouragement to these families, and in doing so, they’ve made that child’s life better. Children deserve to be with their family when it is safe and loving. The most special memories I have at CASA are the cases where these volunteers have invested in the family.
What would you say to a potential supporter? Don’t wait. Everyone can support CASA of Tarrant County in one way or another. If you have the calling and the time to work with these children, become an advocate. If you have the finances that allows you to donate to help the children and families secure an advocate for their case, please donate. If you can’t do either at this time, please tell everyone you know about our agency and what we do. Maybe you simply sharing with others about our organization can help enlist others to support us in the ways mentioned above.
Why do you think it’s important for your local community to support CASA and what they do? We could not do this work without our local community. Our volunteers are the heart of this agency, and their life experiences, backgrounds, diversity, and different perspectives are necessary in this work. They provide guidance and love to those who are in desperate need of it, and our community as a whole benefits when this occurs.
Do you want to share some encouraging words to our volunteers? The impact that you have on the children’s and families’ lives will not always be known or seen during the time that we work our cases. You are planting seeds of love, value, and esteem. Sometimes we forget that the greatest impact in our case isn’t the outcome, but that our consistency in showing up for a child teaches them that they are worth someone showing up for.