Each year at the local elementary schools and downtown arts and cultural district, CASA, short for Court Appointed Special Advocates, creates pinwheel gardens.
The pinwheel gardens draw the attention of passersby as they spin in the breeze and sparkle in the sunshine. The glint and perpetual motion of the pinwheels highlight the accompanying signs which explain that April is Child Abuse Awareness Month: a cause close to the CASA mission. CASA’s mission as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization is to recruit, train, and support effective volunteer advocates as they represent the best interests of abused and neglected children in the court system.
CASA is a lot more than just the annual pinwheels in April. Eddy County CASA features two locations in the region: one on Mermod Street in Carlsbad and the other on Main Street in Artesia. From these two locations, volunteers serve local children in foster care. The staff and volunteers believe that every child in the community has the right to grow up in a safe and loving environment, so their efforts ensure that every abused and neglected child entering the foster care system in Eddy County has the opportunity for a safe, loving, permanent home. Volunteers supply judges in a child’s case with information to help with decisions regarding the child. Volunteers offer support to the child and involved families. Eddy County CASA works alongside CYFD, the Children, Youth, and Families Department, to ensure that any Eddy County child can successfully transition out of temporary placement into a safe, permanent home which may include adoption or legal guardianship in the event that safe reunification is not an option.
Volunteers are the backbone of the organization, and their efforts are crucial to the success of moving local youth out of temporary placement. What is surprising about the volunteer positions is how relatively little the time commitment is each week and month for volunteers compared to the life-long impact that their work has the potential to make in a child’s life. Volunteers serve on average about five hours a month. Their responsibilities, after the required training, include meeting with a child and the families involved and taking notes. Those notes then become short reports that are used as part of the child’s case presented before a judge to determine the best option in securing a child’s safe and loving permanent home.
Looking for ways to help? CASA is searching for fabric to craft holiday stockings for the children they serve. Take your donations to the downtown office in Artesia or send an email to casaoffice@pvtn.net. If you are an online shopper, turn on Amazon Smile and name Eddy County CASA as your charity. With so many ways to serve, give CASA a call at (575) 887-5966 to connect.
Community Spotlight originally published in Focus on Artesia 2022 Fall edition.
