The Gist: CASA Volunteer News

July 2019: News, Events, and Opportunities for CASA Volunteers

Letter from CASA Executive Director Angela Rose

Dear CASA Volunteers:

It has been a busy summer here at CASA as we just concluded our 2018-2019 fiscal.

We are now moving into the "new year" in full force. We recently swore in four new SEPT facilitators and are gearing up for the next advocate training which begins next week.

The work you do each and every day makes a real impact in our community and we would be remiss if we didn't mention our partners who help make this work possible. We are especially grateful to the Pikes Peak United Way who awarded us a $30,000 grant to continue our work serving the whole child through the integration of Dependency & Neglect, Life Long Links, and the Milton Foster Children's Fund. (See the photo above)

I hope to see you at the CASA Volunteer Appreciation Event at Hillside Gardens on August 11. If you haven't already, you can RSVP to that event now!

Thank you all for your continued service to our community's children. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to email me at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Angela

Optima Training for Advocates and Peer Coordinators

Our new database is live! This web-based system allows Advocates and Peer Coordinators to access case information, enter case notes, and track training and volunteer hours remotely. Come and learn about this user-friendly and intuitive new platform. We will be hosting several training sessions this summer and fall on different days of the week and at different times in order to get everyone up to speed. Upcoming dates are listed in the event section below. Please RSVP for one date only. More dates are coming soon, so stay tuned!

Upcoming Trainings & Events for Volunteers

Listed below are some upcoming events you might be interested in. Full details are available by clicking the links below.

7/25: Sweetest Secret Boutique Fundraiser

7/30: Optima Training - Advocates & PCs

8/6: Optima Training - Advocates & PCs

8/11: Volunteer Appreciation Event

8/12: Optima Training - Advocates & PCs

8/20: Optima Training - Advocates & PCs

8/30: Optima Training - Advocates & PCs

9/25: Light of Hope Teller

Milton Foster Children's Fund

HAPPENINGS

Guitar Lessons
Healthy You! Yoga
Visit Split Pine Ranch
Senior Pictures for 2019-2020 year
Back to School Party
Tutoring
Drivers Ed

Click here for more about teen events.

Congratulations to our new SEPT Facilitators!

Five new SEPT Facilitators were sworn in last month. Standing next to Judge Brady (left) are Ariel Cain, Eboni Davis, Haley Slezosky, Myles Nelson, and Yhatisse Reynolds-Jones. Congratulations new volunteers and thank you for having a heart for kids!

Setting CASA kids up for a successful school year

Many children become excited as the first day of a new school year approaches. But for foster kids, this anticipation sometimes leads to anxiety over whether or not they'll fit in at a new school. Help us set our CASA kids up for success by giving them the supplies they need for a new year. If you are part of a group that would like to do a school supply drive, CASA is collecting supplies and we need everything from pens to backpacks (new, please). If you are an advocate with a CASA child that is in need of supplies, Christmas Unlimited has filled backpacks available which you can apply for. More information on those are available at their website.

Need to check out an Ages and Stages Kit?

Some of you have used these in the past, but we'd like to remind advocates that these kits are available for testing childhood development. The kits contain some of the items needed for the testing, while other items can be found in most homes. There are two kits in the upper right drawer of the file cabinets in Catherine Sidor's office and if those are gone, two more are under the table next to her desk. Please make sure to sign out the kit using the sheet on the clipboard on top of the filing cabinet. Questionnaires for different ages are in a labeled blue binder on top of the file cabinets. Choose the one at or closest to the age of each child you would like to test. The binder next to the one with questionnaires is filled with some learning activities to help build skills for children of different ages. The questionnaires and activities are appropriate for children 0 to 5. These activities are not required, but can be valuable!

Kari Dimmick hired as Teller County Program Manager

We are pleased to announce the hiring of Kari Dimmick as the organization's new Teller County Program Manager.

Dimmick is a Woodland Park resident with deep roots in Teller County, and she brings to CASA a wealth of knowledge from years of working with the Department of Human Services in both Douglas and El Paso counties.

From CASA's office in the Woodland Professional Building, Dimmick will manage all aspects of both CASA's Dependency & Neglect (advocacy) and Supervised Exchange & Parenting Time (SEPT) programs in Teller County.

A meet and greet is being planned for Teller County residents and CASA volunteers to meet with Dimmick in Woodland Park. The details of this event will be announced in coming weeks. In the meantime, she can be reached by email to [email protected].

In addition to the new Teller County Program Manager, CASA of the Pikes Peak Region has announced three other new employees in the past month: Michele Courville (Fund Development Associate), Heather DeWolf (SEPT Assistant), and Jonathan Plaisted (SEPT Volunteer Coordinator). All CASA staff members can be reached with the contact information here.

Join us for CASA's 2019 Volunteer Appreciation Event!

We are so grateful for the wonderful work our volunteers do in this community. You are on the front line, delivering on our mission with passion, commitment, and determination each and every day! We want to celebrate all of our volunteers at this special event.

If you're a D&N Advocate, SEPT Facilitator, Life Long Links Volunteer, The Hanger Volunteer, or Milton Foster Children's Fund Volunteer -- mark your calendar for August 11!

Sunday, August 11, 2019

11:00am - 1:00pm

Hillside Gardens

1006 S. Institute St.

Colorado Springs, CO 80903

(This is an outdoor event,

so please plan accordingly)

Lunch will be catered by Bird Dog BBQ, and your family is invited to attend as well! Please click here to RSVP now and include yourself as well as any immediate family members who will be joining you.

CASA of the Pikes Peak Region | 719-447-9898 | casappr.org