Our mission is promoting safety and improving the lives of abused and neglected children.
Welcome to our fall class of CASA volunteers who were sworn-in on October 14. From left Glenn Hensley, Kathy Evans, Michelle Hoops, Alicia Whipple, Cassie Seals, Judge Blake, Tracy Wood, Karen Howarton, Kenneth Littleton, Ellen Armstrong and Jodi Menjivar.
Welcome to our team!
We were thrilled to welcome 12 new people to our team within the past month. Ten new CASA volunteers (pictured above) were sworn-in on October 14 by District Judge Lauri Blake after completing training and background checks. On October 11, we welcomed Amanda McDonald to our team as a new CASA Advocate Supervisor. This is a new position for our center and Amanda will be joining CASA Program Director Sandy Hood and CASA Advocate Supervisor Jana Wood in recruiting, training and supervising CASA volunteers.
Our CASA caseload has doubled in size over the past two years. (See chart below.) All ten new advocates had cases waiting for them once they were sworn-in. Our new staff position was added because of our growing caseload. More volunteers will likely be needed soon. Our next volunteer training class will be scheduled to begin after the holidays.
Today we are delighted to welcome Mandi Bruso to our CAC team. Mandi will be our new CAC Program Specialist. She comes to us with several years of experience with Early Childhood Intervention. She will work with CAC Program Director Kassi Lightfoot and CAC Therapist Michelle Griffith to serve children, youth and families served by our Children's Advocacy Center. Our Administrative Assistant Andrea Rencher and Executive Director Sandy Barber will continue to work with both our CASA and CAC programs.
Justice Is Served is November 19
It's time to get your tickets or tables for Justice Is Served! This dinner and auction is our biggest fundraiser of the year. With the growing demand for our services, it is even more important that this event be a huge success. Plus, it's always a lot of fun!
This year's theme is "Mad Hatter's Ball." (Think dressy and grown-up Alice In Wonderland!) We will once again have live jazz music, lots of fabulous auction items and a wonderful dinner served up by local officials in our justice system. Plus, we have a few fun surprises for this year!
Justice Is Served:
Saturday, November 19
doors open at 6:00 pm
at the Fannin County Multi-Purpose Complex
Individual, open seating tickets:
$35 in advance or $40 at the door
The number of children served each year by our CASA has been growing in the last few years:
The number of annual counseling sessions provided by our Children's Advocacy Center rose dramatically after we added a full-time therapist to our team in January 2016:
5 Ways to Give:
Your gifts of time and money will help us meet this increased demand for services. Here are 5 ways you can give:
2. Donate and/or bid on auction items at Justice Is Served. Check out our
preview list that is being updated regularly.
3.
Become a CASA.
Our next training class will start soon after the new year and help prepare you to be an advocate for children in foster care. Contact Sandy Hood at (903) 583-4339 or sandyh@fanninccc.org.
4. Volunteer at the center.
We also need caring people to provide meals, help with deep cleaning, organizing school supplies, wrapping Christmas presents and more. Contact Andrea at (903) 583-4339 or andrea@fanninccc.org.
5. Make a monthly gift to the center. To start an automatic monthly gift to be paid by your credit or debit card, give now
