Cynics of the world, beware! There are good folks on this planet.
Some of the very best people are CASA volunteers, who find room in their hearts for children in the foster care system—kids who might move from foster home to foster home, who might come from severely
dysfunctional families, who might experience many changes in social workers and even changes in judicial venues.
CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. It’s a nonprofit agency that recruits and trains adults to help foster care children in court.
A CASA volunteer can be the most stable and most consistent element in the life of a foster care kid. He or she represents the child in court and gives counsel on the child’s needs and preferences. CASA volunteers allow children to have a voice that might otherwise go unheard.
“Children’s lives have been changed for the better by CASA volunteers,” declared Judge James Herman at a Volunteer Appreciation Dinner, themed “CASA on Broadway,” held on July 27 at the Hotel Corque in Solvang.
About 150 people from around the county—Lompoc, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez, and Solvang—gathered in the hotel’s lovely brick courtyard for a no-host-bar social hour before dinner.
I chatted with volunteer Tom Urbanske, who has two CASA kids under his wing, and connected with Sally Payne, a vibrant Lockheed employee from Lompoc, who has had several CASA kids over the years. “I wanted to do something to help,” she said.
Corine Cerny from Solvang has been a volunteer for 1 1/2 years. “It feels good to know I have made a difference. CASA is like rain in the desert for the kids in the system,” she said.
One Santa Barbara couple has a CASA kid in Santa Maria. They drive up once a week for a visit. “It is a wonderful feeling,” the husband said, “to do what we can and to be a continuous, positive presence in someone’s life. We enjoy his company tremendously.”
[image-3] Another Santa Barbara volunteer told me he enjoys “the intrinsic satisfaction of helping someone who doesn’t have anyone to care about him.”
Also schmoozing before dinner were Judge Art and Mary Garcia, and Alec and Kathy Simas. Kathy Simas is the Santa Barbara Foundation’s affiliate coordinator in North County. Principal of St. Mary’s School, Carmen Vadillo, gave the invocation during the dinner program, which included service awards to volunteers and soloists presenting Broadway songs.
The Hotel Corque oozes with ambiance. Dinner was served in its lovely banquet room. Fried chicken atop a mound of warm German potato salad and topped with slivers of apple was the entree, preceded by an artistically arranged salad on a rectangular plate. Chocolate cake topped with raspberry sauce and whipped cream, served in huge white bowls, finished the meal. Service was superb.
CASA is actively seeking volunteers. North County has more children in need of advocates than South County. “There is a waiting list,” executive director Kim Davis told me, “of children in need of a CASA volunteer.”
The group’s next fundraiser will be “CASA at the Vineyard,” to be held on Sunday, Oct. 24, at the Tres Hermanas Winery. Sponsorships are available. Tickets cost $100. For more info, call 739-9102. m
If you want to hobnob with Helen, you may contact her at helenthom232@yahoo.com.
This article appears in Aug 12-19, 2010.
