January 2020: News, Events, and Opportunities for CASA Volunteers 
 
Letter from CASA Executive Director Angela Rose 
 
 
Dear CASA Volunteers:
 
Happy New Year!  I hope you had an enjoyable holiday season with your loved ones and are looking forward to a great year ahead.  
 
It is finally here... 2020, the year we meet our Vision to serve each and every child in need with a CASA volunteer. By December we intend to be serving every child that needs us. We are already off to a great start as over 50 people attended our last Volunteer Information Session.  As always, if you have friends or family who would make great CASA volunteers, make sure you tell them about our next Volunteer Information Session which is slated for Feb. 6.  If each one of you brings just one new person to CASA that becomes an advocate, we can meet our goal to serve every child. What a great time to be volunteering for CASA!  
 
We have an exciting year ahead. Not only are we already gearing up for Light of Hope, but we will also be the featured non-profit at a Colorado Springs Switchbacks Game this summer. Stay tuned for more information on that!  
 
Next on the agenda is our Annual CASA-wide Volunteer Impact Event. We hope you will save the date of Feb. 26 to join us for this gathering where I will share with you the amazing impact you had in 2019.  
 
As always, please do not hesitate to contact me at angelar@casappr.org with any questions, concerns, or comments. Thank you for your dedication to the children of the Pikes Peak Region and I look forward to seeing what we all accomplish together in 2020! 
 
 
Warmly,
Angela 
 
Upcoming Trainings & Events for Volunteers  
 
Listed below are some upcoming events you might be interested in. Full details are available by clicking the links. 

 
Milton Foster Children's Fund
HAPPENINGS
  • Cooking Class
  • Career Day Open House
  • Guitar Lessons
Click here for more about teen events.  
Volunteer Spotlight: Cathy Larson  
 
If there was a theme to Cathy Larson's retirement, one might say it was community service. The retired IT Project Manager finds plenty of ways to give back. One of those ways is by monitoring and documenting observations during child-parent visits in CASA's Supervised Exchange and Parenting Time (SEPT) Program - a job she's been doing consistently since she first came on board as a CASA volunteer in April of 2019. 


SAVE THE DATE: CASA-wide Volunteer Impact Event
 
Calling all D&N Advocates, SEPT Facilitators, The Hanger Volunteers, Life Long Links Volunteers, and Milton Foster Children's Fund Volunteers!

Save the date for Feb. 26 and join us at Broadmoor Community Church (315 Lake Ave.) from 5:30 - 7:00 PM for our annual volunteer meeting.

We will hear from Executive Director Angela Rose as she shares the impact CASA has had in the community over the last year. You will also be able to complete your annual Mandatory Reporter Training and enjoy dessert as we celebrate the incredible accomplishments of this organization.  We love our volunteers and are so grateful for the passion you bring to your work!  You are making an impact!
 
  Please click here to RSVP now.

Summer Camp Registrations Are Open Now!  
 
While it is still cold outside, summer camps are already planning summer fun! Camps tend to fill up by March, so please start thinking about camps for your kids and teens. MFCF currently partners with Camp Shady Brook, Camp Jackson, and Eagle Lake Camp to provide an overnight camp experience for youth in foster care, so apply here for MFCF funding for camp today! (Youth must have an open D&N case through El Paso or Teller Counties, cannot be living with biological mom or dad, and have not received funds from MFCF since last summer.)
Cheer on the UCCS Mountain Lions with CASA!   
 
Join us at the Gallogly Events Center at UCCS on Jan. 25 at 7:30 PM to cheer on the Mountain Lions against MSU Denver!
 
UCCS has offered CASA volunteers and the kids on their cases free tickets to this game. Admission and parking is free but please bring money if you would like to purchase refreshments.  
 
Registration is required by Tuesday, January 21, and must include full name of adults, first name and last initial for youth in foster care. Register here.  
 
All youth must be accompanied by an adult. Admission is for CASA Advocates with the youth on their case, Group home residents with their staff, Foster youth with their foster/kin/kinlike family members
Welcome Jackie and Crystal to the CASA staff!  
 
 
CASA is thrilled to introduce you to two new employees, Jackie De'Anda (left) and Crystal Moore (right)!   
 
Many of you have already met Jackie as she has worked with CASA as a volunteer advocate and peer coordinator. She now steps into the role of D&N Case Supervisor and will work hard to support our many amazing advocates.  
 
Crystal is CASA's new Fund Development Associate and she comes to us with years of experience working for organizations that help children and adults in crisis. Most recently she was with a Texas-based nonprofit that focused on crisis management.   
 
We are so lucky to have both Jackie and Crystal on board and we hope that you will stop by to welcome them next time you are in the office!