1. How long have you been a CASA?
    I was retrained in 2016.
  2. What brought you to apply to become a CASA?
    While a graduate student in the 1980’s, I volunteered for five years and then became the part-time director of the Guardian Ad Litem program, now called CASA. I left that position to be a counselor in MCCSC. After retiring I decided to return as a volunteer because it is one of the most important volunteer positioning in the county.
  3. Besides being a CASA volunteer, what do you like to do in your spare time?
    All four of my grandchildren live in Bloomington so I often am attending cross country meets, baseball games, ukulele concerts and other fun things they do. My husband and I drive for Meals on Wheels; I serve on that board. I do various things for my church, mostly connecting with older members through phone calls or card sending. I also enjoy golfing, swimming, yoga, Mah Jong and bridge.
  4. What do you love the most about being a CASA?
    I enjoy the interaction with all individuals involved in the cases. My cases have all required close contact with the schools; having worked in the schools I know individuals that have connected me to the appropriate school personnel. But the children are the best reason for being a CASA. Helping them navigate their situations through a very stressful time of their lives is the most meaningful.
  5. And now for a little fun, what’s a hidden talent or unusual fact that most people don’t know about you?
    The first year I taught in Minnesota I lived in the upstairs of a retired couple. The gentleman caned chairs. My sister had a chair she wanted caned. When I asked the man if he would cane it for her, he said no but I will teach you how to do it. So I have known how to cane chairs cane for fifty plus years and have caned several. How wise he was to pass on his gift.