1. How long have you been a Child Visit Monitor?
    I have been a Child Visit Monitor since it was created as a pilot program, I believe in 2018.
  2. What brought you to apply to become a CASA?
    I listened to Susan Wannamaker and other presenters at 100+ Women Who Care talk about CASA and what an impact volunteers have on children’s lives. I also had other friends who were CASA volunteers.
  3. Besides being a CASA volunteer, what do you like to do in your spare time?
    I am also a Meals on Wheels volunteer and on the MOW Board, and I also am on the YMCA Board. My husband and I love to travel. (Obviously more difficult with COVID this year!) I love spending time with our big family and can’t wait to spend more time with grandkids! Now that spring is here, I am so ready to do flower gardening as well.
  4. What do you love the most about being a CASA?
    I like that the CVM position is the program’s first contact with the client and can hopefully lessen the time that a child stays on a waiting list. It feels good to start the process and provide critical information to the CASA staff until they are assigned an advocate. One experience that I was proud of was asking a mom who had to escape a violent home in the middle of the night with her young children what they needed. After I submitted the list to Tia Arthur, a CASA Case Coordinator, it was distributed to all of our volunteers. Not long after that, the family had an SUV full of items for them that were delivered by their DCS Case Manager.
  5. And now for a little fun, what’s a hidden talent or unusual fact that most people don’t know about you?
    I have completed over 8 half-marathons after the age of 50, without ever running before! My friends thought it would be “fun” to do for my 50th birthday and I got hooked. I haven’t done that for several years but I still work out like crazy trying to stay healthy.