News from CASA Of Central Texas Inc.

CASA Up Close

CASA of Central Texas advocates for abused and neglected children in the court system by recruiting, training and supporting community volunteers.

Welcome to another edition of CASA Up Close Monthly. Please feel free to contact CASA for more information about anything you read. And, as always, thank you for your continued support.

Letter from the Executive Director

The Season of Giving

Last Monday, CASA was thrilled to be a part of Central Texas Adoption Day where we witnessed 24 children being adopted into loving homes. For these children, this holiday season will be special, it will be spent with family, an experience many of them have never had. But, there are still children who are waiting for their safe, permanent homes. And for these children, the holidays can be a lonely time.

Gathering with friends and family during the holidays is a tradition most of us take for granted. But for so many of the children served by CASA, the holidays provide a painful reminder that they are different

Four-year-old Alannie and her brothers were adopted on Monday by her grandparents after 907 days, or 2 yrs, 5 months and 23 days, spent waiting to be adopted.

from their peers - separated from parents, siblings, pets and close friends as they reside in foster care and other safe placements to shield them from further abuse and/or neglect.

Fortunately, this is often a time when many caring members of our community step forward to offer their help. It is this outpouring of concern and generosity that makes me particularly thankful during this holiday season. Just when our volunteers and staff are overwhelmed by the tragic reality of new abuse and neglect cases in Caldwell, Comal, Guadalupe and Hays Counties, the phone rings or my email inbox reveals a caring individual or group ready to extend a helping hand.

This meaningful support is what makes our community special. Your financial donations to CASA, your in-kind contributions, your volunteer hours, and your creative and meaningful offers to share your time and resources truly make a difference.

With your help, we are making a difference one child at a time. As you gather with your loved ones this holiday season, please know that your generosity is truly appreciated, and your gifts are providing hope for the children served by our dedicated CASA volunteers. Your contributions exemplify the heart of giving, and we are thankful.

Wishing you and yours a very happy holiday season,

Norma Castilla-Blackwell
Executive Director

Become a CASA Volunteer

CASA Volunteer Toni Urban sworn in March 2014

Sign up for a 2016 Training Session

For more information on training sessions and becoming a CASA volunteer, contact Training Coordinator Debbie Haynes at 512-392-3578 or by email, or click here to visit our website.

A New Volunteer Training Course is required for all new Court Appointed Special Advocate Volunteers.

The Volunteer Training Course is a 6-part training series and all 6 classes are required.

January 13 thru February 17, Wednesdays

4:30 PM to 8:30 PM, San Marcos

January 14 thru February 18, Thursdays

1:00 PM to 5:00 PM, New Braunfels

February 27 thru March 26, Saturdays

8:30 AM to 1:30 PM, San Marcos

March 9 thru April 13, Wednesdays

1:00 PM to 5:00 PM, San Marcos

March 10 thru April 1, Thursdays

4:30 PM to 8:30 PM, New Braunfels

See additional 2016 training dates on our website calendar

San Marcos

Historic Hays County Courthouse Room 101
111 E. San Antonio Street

New Braunfels
CASA office

1619 E. Common Street, Building C

Volunteer Spotlight

Gillian Siemens, CASA volunteer since 2013

"I wanted to volunteer my time to something that was meaningful."

"The 'System' often forgets the children in their day-to-day handling of a case."

"CASA Volunteers are desperately needed for each family of children removed from their homes. You will certainly not be wasting your time!"

Voices Tour Information Sessions

Want to learn more about the role of a CASA Volunteer?
Come to ribbon

our one-hour information session and hear how our volunteers advocate for children who have been abused and neglected.

CASA staff and volunteers will be on hand to share their stories and answer your questions.

Voices Tours

New Braunfels

CASA office

Wednesday, December 2nd - noon

San Marcos

Historic Hays County Courthouse, Room 101

Wednesday, December 9th - noon

Please RSVP to Eloise Hudson by email or at 830-626-2272.

Would you like to host a CASA Voices Tour in your town? Please contact us!

Lunch provided by Fox's Pizza Den in New Braunfels and Chick-fil-A in San Marcos.

Annual Toy Drive, Gift Cards Needed

This holiday season, CASA of Central Texas is collaborating with local organizations and individuals to provide gifts for abused and neglected children. This annual project is a wonderful opportunity to extend the giving tradition to children in our community.

More than 230 of our children have already been selected and we are close to our goal of providing a gift for every child we serve. We currently need gift cards donated for our teenagers who would like to shop for themselves and for children placed out of region.

Visit our toy drive webpage to see specific gift card requests, or you may donate gift cards from Walmart, Target, Academy and Best Buy in increments of $20.

Gift cards may be dropped off to either CASA office.
If you have any questions, please contact Eloise Hudson by email or at 830-626-2272.

Annual Volunteer Appreciation Mixer

All CASA of Central Texas volunteers and their guest are invited to this year's annual Advocate Appreciation Mixer.

Wine, hors d'oeuvres, music and swearing in of new advocates.

Please RSVP by December 1st at 830.626.2272 or to [email protected].

December 1st is the fourth annual #GivingTuesday worldwide. It is a day to inspire personal philanthropy and encourage bigger, better and smarter charitable giving during the holiday season.

If you spend on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, please consider kicking off the holiday giving season with an end-of-year charitable gift to CASA of Central Texas! Click here to donate.

Attend the Army All-American Bowl

The U.S. Army All-American Bowl coordinators are once again offering free tickets to CASA of Central Texas. This is a great opportunity for advocates to have an outing with the children on your cases or request tickets for their placement so they may attend together.

CASA of Central Texas was provided with general admission ticket vouchers, available on a first come, first serve basis. They can be picked up from either CASA office .

Advocate John Nutting with his CASA child at a previous U.S. Army All-American Bowl Game.

What : The U.S. Army All-American Bowl is an East versus West showdown that features the top 90 high school football players from across the country and the nation's top 125 high school marching musicians who perform during half-time.

When: January 9th, 2016, noon

Where: Alamodome, Downtown San Antonio

More info: www.usarmyallamericanbowl.com

State Conference held in San Marcos

The annual Texas CASA Conference was held again in San Marcos this year and CASA of Central Texas Volunteers and Staff attended the workshops November 5-7 at the Embassy Suites Conference Center.

Thirteen CASA of Ce ntral Texas volunteers attended the conference on a scholarship provided by HD Supply and the Texas CASA CVC Growth Grant.

"Attending the 2015 CASA conference was a great opportunity in so many ways. As a first-year volunteer, it gave me a chance to see and hear how CASA operates on a state level and how committed to "the cause" everyone involved is. It felt like a huge family reunion - everybody was open, friendly, willing to share their time, their experiences and their wisdom. I gained a lot of good perspective from that and feel part of that huge family now." - Lisa Metzler

Continuing Education Workshop

Our raffle winners were Patty Willett & Larry Patterson, congratulations!

   A CE was held on November 10 in New Braunfels at the Gruene United Methodist Church. Pastor Karen Horan spoke with CASA advocates about the importance of self-care in the helping profession.

     Taking time to do fun things for ourselves and remembering what we each are thankful for were highlighted. She recommended exercise, fresh air, gardening, walking and other activities to "soak up the sun".

    We look forward to offering more continuing education classes next year - see you there!

Advocates are required to complete 12 hoursof continuing education per year.

Save the Date

Mark your calendars to spend the evening
with CASA for our annual fundraiser.

April 8, 2016

6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Wurstfest Stelzenhaus, New Braunfels

Honoring

Judge Bert Cobb, Hays County

&
Judge Charles Stephens, Comal County Court at Law #2

Donate Your Jury Pay to CASA

CASA of Central Texas is now appearing on the county courts

list as a local charitable organization to whom jurors may elect to donate their jury duty pay.

CASA is on the Jury Pay Donation lists of all four of our counties - Caldwell, Comal, Guadalupe and Hays. If you serve as a juror, please look for our name and consider donating to CASA!

Thank you County Judges, Commissioners and Administrators!

Support CASA Through Payroll Deduction

CASA of Central Texas has been approved to participate in several payroll deductions campaigns for public employees.

If you qualify for one of these campaigns through your employer, please consider supporting CASA. Your friends and family can also participate, so help us get the word out!

State Employee Charitable Campaign (SECC):
CASA of Central Texas agency listing - 475017

Combined Federal Campaign (CFC):
CASA of Central Texas agency listing - 60661

San Antonio Metropolitan Area (SAMA) Public Sector Campaigns:

City of San Antonio Charitable Campaign

Bexar County Charitable Campaign

Combined School District Charitable Campaign

City of Austin Combined Charities Campaign (COACCC):