See how we’re making a difference in our community.
We’ve been working hard to help the abused and neglected youth in our community find safe, permanent homes. Here’s what we’ve been up to lately:
Join Executive Director Janet Walden as she reflects on her time with CASA and those who have taught her important lessons along the way.
Not all heroes wear capes. Sometimes the heroes are seemingly ordinary people who show up in our lives, who become the caring adults who contribute to our success. Those times we have the opportunity to express gratitude for these special people is a gift.
Family has been the one career constant for Executive Director Janet Walden, and it calls her into her next chapter.
Executive Director, Janet Walden spends time listening, sharing the understanding of Krista Tippett that “listening is about being present, not just about being quiet.”
As she celebrates her seventh anniversary with Hall-Dawson CASA, Janet Walden reflects on the importance and power of human connection.
When we talk about CASA, it is the children and youth we assign as ‘vulnerable’ not us. It is CASA's role to advocate for those who are vulnerable. Meaningful connection, however, often only happens when we allow our hearts, and not our logic, to drive the bus.
Sometimes celebrating National Foster Care Month is more about having a glimpse of the stories that provide context and meaningful examples of how children and youth are impacted by foster care than by reading statistics. As I celebrate National Foster Care Month, I am grateful for the lessons learned in the relationships I have been gifted in this important work.
So often it is the children or youth who are our greatest teachers. Janet Walden shares lessons she has learned from one of the bravest, most courageous teachers she has encountered.
Read along as Executive Director Janet Walden (aka as BB) prepares for the adoption of three very special kids.
"Let your heart guide you...it whispers so listen closely."
-Walt Disney
“One life on this earth is all we get, whether it is enough or not enough, and the obvious conclusion would seem to be at the very least we are fools if we do not live it as fully and bravely and beautifully as we can.” -Frederick Buechner
Development Specialist Joy Green talks about the importance of sharing our mission and our story with the community. How are you sharing our story?
“Life is amazing. And then it's awful.” -L.R. Knost
By Tracy L. Verrigni, Volunteer Recruitment and Training Coordinator
“Quiet quitting” is on the rise in the workplace. Development Specialist Joy Green considers whether it is happening in other aspects of our lives.
A trip to the local grocery store and chance encounter with another, has Executive Director Janet Walden reflecting on the power of connection and proximity.
In Part Two of this two-part series, CASA Volunteer Amy describes how her training prepared her for the work and how she has used that training, her resources and life experiences to make a lasting impact on the children she serves.
In Part One of this two-part series, CASA Volunteer Amy shares the experiences in her life that brought her to her decision to become a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) -- she wanted to find a way to help and support children and young adults who do not have families that provide unconditional love and support.
So often, it is the faces and stories that had the greatest impact in this work, that have helped shape the advocacy for the future of the ones who come next.
We are pleased to announce our 2022 Hall-Dawson CASA Volunteer of the Year, Gail Lombardo. We share here what makes Gail such an amazing advocate for our kids!
“Children remind us to treasure the smallest of gifts, even in the most difficult times.” -Allen Klein
Celebrating her two-year anniversary, Development Specialist Joy Green takes a look back at some of the CASA lessons she’s learned.
Remembering the stories of connections with important adults in her own childhood has helped Executive Director Janet Walden celebrate the connections made between a CASA Volunteer and a child experiencing foster care. Every child is one important adult away from being a success story.
The world can be a noisy place. Executive Director Janet Walden reflects on the timely words of encouragement from a friend, “the world turns, don’t let it spin you.”
June is National Reunification Month. “Children don’t want better families; they want their families better.” Celebrate with us the families in our community who have done the hard work, and are able to reunite as a family!
With the simple handprints adorned on her wall, Executive Director Janet Walden celebrates the seeds planted in the lives of children experiencing foster care. Foster care is complex and can be difficult. Love does hard things.
“The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald
When National Foster Care Month and Mother’s Day are celebrated in the same month, there is an opportunity to be mindful of the need for kindness and love extended to those we encounter.
Hall-Dawson CASA Development Specialist shares the 2021 Annual Impact Report, as well as highlights: successes, milestones and a celebration of the impact made by our CASA Volunteers and supporters.
Guest blogger Erwin K. Bligen shares his story of advocating for children and his recent return to the work he loves.
Executive Director Janet Walden encourages us to remember the important adults in our childhood and consider what our impact will be in honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Thriving families depend on strong support systems, which can come from family, friends, neighbors and others in the community. Families need connections to local economic support services, housing assistance and nutritional necessities to help maintain their foundation and reduce child welfare interactions that could be prevented by meeting families’ basic needs.
Newly appointed Advocacy Director Christie Ledlow-Hodges shares her vision for her leadership role at Hall-Dawson CASA.
Zoom won’t go away even when we are allowed to bring “large calendars” back into our small courtrooms and narrow hallway. We will continue to use Zoom to allow foster parents, children, and CASA volunteers to participate when they just can’t come to the courthouse. But I am hoping that I’ll have children back in my courtroom to give the occasion hug when needed very soon….
This work we do in child welfare is costly. To pour oneself out, to stand in places that are uncomfortable, chaotic even, and be the calm that a child, a parent, or colleague needs to feel. To be the consistent, the constant in a place in a child’s life, even when they push against you, as they often do. Even when, especially when, the brokenness of a system breaks your heart. Again.
Celebrating those who have made child advocacy a priority in their lives and have helped to transform a child’s chaotic present into a promising future.
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” — Nelson Mandela
As she and her family prepare for a new chapter in their lives, Advocacy Director Natalie Vinzant reflects on her time with Hall-Dawson CASA, and her gratitude for those who have walked alongside her in this work.
“Together we are more than any one person could be. Together we can build across the generations. Together we can renew our hope and faith in the life that is yet to unfold. Together we can heed the call to a ministry of care and justice. We are ever bound in community. May it always be so.” ~Rev. Peter Raible
Janet Walden, Executive Director, shares a video with the voices of some of our amazing CASA Volunteers. She is sure you will agree, there is nothing quite like a CASA Volunteer!
Grief is especially hard to talk about during the holidays, but let’s discuss why it is still important.
“We lose ourselves in the things we love. We find ourselves there too.” -Kristin Martz
At Hall-Dawson CASA, the work that is being done doesn’t take place inside the walls of our building, The Little House. Because our Advocates serve children who are experiencing foster care, their work is done in many ways and in many places.
In going through life, it makes a difference to use the correct tools in accomplishing any task. Today we’d like to share with you a new tool and invite you to join us in the conversation.
This past week, our CASA program experienced a milestone that many programs are never able to claim – we celebrated a volunteer at her 20-year anniversary of being a CASA! This is an incredible milestone for her, our program, and the nationwide CASA family.
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” — William Shakespeare
Helen Keller said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” We each have an opportunity to make a difference in our community – to make it better.
Executive Director Janet Walden shares her appreciation for CASA Volunteers and the importance of the connection each makes with the child or youth for whom they are advocating.
Is there such thing as a “perfect CASA Volunteer?” Come read this week’s blog as we discuss who can be a volunteer.
“Space and stillness is the light that illuminates the beauty of our soul’s being.” -Adyashanti
