 | April 2021: News, Updates, and Opportunities for CASA Volunteers |
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Letter from the Executive Director Dear CASA Volunteers, Happy April! I hope you all are enjoying springtime in Colorado! April is an important month for CASA as it plays host to National Volunteer Appreciation Week! We want to celebrate all of you next week with activities taking place April 19-23. Please see below for more information on the plans for Volunteer Appreciation Week, and we hope you find something you want to participate in. This month is also National Child Abuse Prevention Month. It is a good opportunity to draw awareness to child abuse and remind the community to call the Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 1-844-CO-4-KIDS if anything seems out of the ordinary with a child. In honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month, April is usually when we hold our annual Light of Hope Fundraiser. For social distancing reasons, we opted not to hold that in-person event this April but instead have invited the community to Be a Light of Hope from home during our month-long fundraising campaign, Month of Hope. Click here to participate in Month of Hope. We expect to see an additional 120 children coming into our Dependency & Neglect program in 2021 because of the pandemic, meaning we still need more volunteers. Please share with your friends and family about the upcoming Volunteer Information Session on April 29. Word of mouth is one of the best ways we have to recruit new volunteers! As always, thank you for everything you do. Feel free to reach out to me any time at angelar@casappr.org. With gratitude, Angela Rose
CASA Executive Director |
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18 new volunteers sworn in! Eighteen community members were sworn in as officers of the court by Judge Dennis McGuire on March 26th. Congratulations to our newest advocates and thank you for your heart for children! |
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Let's Celebrate during National Volunteer Appreciation Week! Next week is National Volunteer Appreciation Week, and we want to celebrate you! We will have a few things going on, including a daily website scavenger hunt which will give you an opportunity to win big in the daily drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card! We will also be hosting "Coffee Dates" each day at the new boutique hotel, Kinship Landing (CASA's newest neighbor!) Click the button for more on how to participate in these activities! |
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Nominate a youth for the 2021 iInspire award by April 28th iInspire is an award sponsored by the Educating Children of Color Summit (ECOC) and the Minority Overrepresentation Committee which recognizes El Paso County or Teller County youth who have overcome adversity. Think of the youth who earns a GED while caring for an ill relative, the youth who overcomes a serious illness, the youth who creates a non-profit, or the youth who uses social media to return a lost wallet. This year’s honorees receive a monetary gift; opportunity to shadow a local leader; framed proclamation signed by the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC); and recognition during a May BOCC meeting. |
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MFCF Funding for Summer Activities Summer is almost here! If you have a youth who would like to participate in a summer activity, please apply for MFCF funds. Youth must have an open D&N case through El Paso or Teller County, must not be living with a biological parent, and must not have received funds within the last year. As a special note - the Building Resiliency Through Horsemanship camp is back for 2021, so make sure to keep that one in mind as you make plans! |
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The North Pole is Back on for 2021! The 44th Annual Foster Children’s Festival at The North Pole is back on this year! Instead of a one day event, registered guests can go to the park once during June. Registration is due May 26th. Click the button for more info and to register. |
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Teen Events and The Hanger The Hanger is now open Saturdays from 12-3 with no appointments necessary although waiting times and shopping limits may be necessary as the store has limited capacity. In addition to Hanger shopping, CASA will have a graduation party for graduating seniors and teens receiving their GED. Visit the teen page for more information on upcoming teen programs through The Hanger. |
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April 2021 Anniversaries Twenty one CASA volunteers are celebrating their anniversaries this month, including Jane Hegstrom who marks her 20th anniversary with CASA in April! Jane is best known for founding The Hanger and she is pictured here in the old Hanger location on Tejon Street. In addition, advocate Laura Speer is celebrating her 13th anniversary as a CASA volunteer! |
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Inclusion Corner: Ways to Grow We recently wrapped up the 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge with CASA volunteers, staff, and board members. It was great to see so many committed to collectively furthering our understanding of privilege, oppression, and equity. If you didn't participate with CASA, you can definitely do this activity on your own. Click here for more info. Want to grow in this area but the 21-day challenge isn't for you? The CASA staff book club is currently reading the book Just Mercy and we highly recommend it to all you book worms out there! |
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Partner Spotlight: Two major partners renew support in 2021 Two major business partners renewed their support of CASA for 2021: Covington Homes and Budget Blinds. These two companies build or improve homes for local families, but they also make it a priority to ensure safe homes for local children! |
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Tell the world you're a CASA with a Facebook Profile Frame CASA has created a new Facebook profile frame for advocates who close cases. Please feel free to use this as it's a great way to start a conversation with your friends about the important work you do! To use the frame, all you have to do is click to update your profile picture and then click “add frame.” In the search box, type “CASA of the Pikes Peak Region – Advocate." Select the profile frame and then below the preview box, you will be able to select the amount of time you’d like to leave it. |
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| CASA of the Pikes Peak Region
418 S. Weber Street, | Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903
719-447-9898 | kerik@casappr.org |
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