May is National Foster Care Month and CASA is proud to partner with a number of local agencies and supporters of those who are part of the foster care system. Foster care encompasses so many different opportunities for families, friends, and strangers to provide support for one another – but at the end of the day, it comes down to having people who care enough to give their time, energy, love, and resources to help care for children other than their own.
CASA is just one avenue of support within the foster care system. Our volunteer advocates are specially trained to speak up for children who cannot represent themselves and voice their own needs. We are encouraged to be the constant and consistent presence in the lives of the children we serve. Foster care is relatives taking over when parents are struggling with substance abuse. Foster care is complete strangers volunteering their home and resources to support a child when CPS has no where else to place them. Foster care even includes professional facilities that can treat mental and physical health disorders when children have those needs.
Foster care is a lot of different things – but it always comes down to ONE thing. People who care enough to get involved and do something that can change a child’s life. Any one of the areas mentioned above can do that for a child. It just needs to start with care and concern and a willingness to step up and become that change. Start with CASA – we invite you to explore what it takes to be a CASA advocate. Check out our website at www.casabellcoryell.org. There are so many ways to get involved, feel free to reach out to us to find other ways you can help. But just start somewhere – children in our community are waiting for someone to get involved and show them a different path besides abuse and neglect.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best – “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?”
Peace and Blessings…..
Kevin