Another link, not for the light of heart...

Read about this case of long-term abuse that came to light in Austria.

Interesting link!

If you have an extra minute, you may want to listen to the story of Shirley "Star" Diaz, a young woman who grew up in foster care in New York City.

By the way, our evening training starts in a week--on May 6th--please tell anyone interested to contact Jayme at 303-328-2357.

Child Maltreatment Report

So, CASA daytime training began today. I said that I'd make the recent report on Child Maltreatment Fatalities available on the blog.
Not exactly a fun way to introduce yourself to a group of people, but I digress.

Volunteer Breakfast and a P.S.

On April 12, from 9 am to 11 am, we had the pleasure of gathering as a CASA community to honor our volunteers and all of the amazing work that they do. We had a delicious breakfast at the Mariott Denver South, followed by the wonderful comedic stylings of Brad Montgomery, a local humorist. Photo of volunteers Bev Hachmeister, Jacki Hinton and Angela Baleztena.

Photo of volunteer Erin Hammer and guest Tina Hammer.

Photo of Young Philanthropy Project (YPP) Board Member Traci Tisserat, Lincoln County Program Manager Chris Tisserat and volunteer Mariellen Duffy.

Here is a photo of Brad Montgomery, who did such a fantastic job. He juggles, he jokes, he motivates. What's not to love?

And here is the P.S. Office Depot recently opened up a new store at the Southlands Shopping area in SouthEast Aurora. The Office Depot gave us a generous donation of $500 and 25 backpacks. We would like to thank James, store manager, (James is the one who picked us as the recipients!) and Mike Schulteiss, regional manager, for their generous support. So, now, with that plug, go out and buy your pens, paper and all of your office supplies at the Office Depot at the Southlands shopping center!

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A lot of CASAs ask me how they can accrue continuing education hours. A very easy way to do this is to read a book related to any of the many topics you encounter while advocating for a child.

I just went on the Lubbock, TX CASA website, and they have the most awesome list I've ever seen.
Check it out: http://www.lubbockcasa.org/zVolunteerResourcesBooks.htm

Plus, I'd love to turn everyone on to a young woman who will be featured prominently at the National CASA conference this coming June.
Check out: http://www.rhodes-courter.com/

Best to everyone--Jayme

Some resources

From time to time, it's my hope that I can make folks aware of different organizations or programs that may be of interest to our volunteers. Please take a look, and respond with a post if you have more to add!--Jayme

Colorado Bright Beginnings—offers free services to families with infants and toddlers
www.brightbeginningsco.org

The Legal Center for People with Disabilities and Older People—provides legal representation and advocacy, they also have WONDERFUL referrals on the “resources” page of their website
www.thelegalcenter.org

Stride—an organization that assists with budgeting, their tagline is “Families Achieving Economic Self-Sufficiency”
www.stride-co.org

Servicios de La Raza—an organization that provides services and advocacy to the Spanish speaking population
www.serviciosdelaraza.org (site is currently under construction)

CHARG Resource Center—an organization that provides a variety of services to the mentally ill population
www.charg.org

The Adoption Exchange—in general, wonderful resources for learning about the adoption process, but one thing that might be of particular interest in their link to Post-Adoption services in Colorado
http://www.adoptex.org/site/PageServer?pagename=CO_PostAdoptionServices_MainPage