We’ve been working hard to help the abused and neglected youth in our community find safe, permanent homes. Here’s what we’ve been up to lately:
The CASA/GAL 2023 Annual Conference took place in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Knit Wits II find unique ways to support CASA for Kids!
AHG Troop MT2300 creates craft bags for local CASA Kiddos!
How can we learn from the stories of those who experienced our foster care system firsthand, and move towards more compassionate and holistic advocacy for youth and families? Join us for an inspirational conversation with Collaborative Family Engagement Coach Maria McCord about the importance of empathy in our work with children and families, and the lifesaving power of connection.
The CASA movement has a friend in the NBA.
Celebrating our newest CASA Advocates!
Overcoming the challenges of social distancing and technology, 7 outstanding community members successfully completed the CASA Training Program!
Thank you for giving and caring about abused and neglected children in our community!
A mother's struggle with addiction becomes a different battle when she learns she is pregnant.
A tale not uncommon in the Flathead Valley.
Thank you Don "K" Whitefish for taking the lead in helping abused and neglected children in our community during Child Abuse Prevention month!
Abuse and neglect is a cycle. CASA for Kids helps break that cycle for foster children.
Episode 1 of the Change a Child's Story mini-series: A young girl enters foster care after a childhood filled with abuse.
COVID – 19 is on everyone’s mind right now. You cannot turn on the tv, radio, scroll through social media or read a paper without being inundated with information. Unfortunately, most of the news is alarming. Sorting fact from fiction can be challenging.
Children are not immune from worrying about this. Their routines have been disrupted and many have questions and fears about what they are hearing. Manuela Molina Cruz of @mindheart.kids put together a fun, information little booklet that you can download for free at www.mindheart.co/descargables.
Chance to win an amazing Playhouse and support CASA!
Sliters is unveiling their DreamBuilders Playhouse this weekend, March 7-8, at the Home and Garden Showcase (Fairgrounds)! The playhouse will be raffled off on April 18 @ 1pm at Sliters Bigfork. proceeds will be evenly donated to CASA for Kids, the Nurturing Center, Bigfork ACES, and the West Shore Food Bank.
visit www.sliters.com/raffle for more information and to buy tickets, Or visit any Sliters location.
Thanks to the generosity of the Whitefish Community Foundation and their new innovative grant program, The Kids Fund, we were able to roll out our new program FOCUS this month.
Training opportunity to become Professionally Certified in Trauma and Resilience.
This was a letter written and sent by a local former foster youth to her CASA Advocate.
The community came together to provide Christmas gifts for 139 foster children!
Your support is making in the lives of abused and neglected children.
Buy or lease a new Subaru during the 2019 Subaru Share the Love Event, Nov. 14 - Jan. 2, and Subaru will donate $250 to the charity of the buyer's choice including Don "K" Subaru's 2019 Hometown Charity, CASA for Kids!
The Great Fish Award for the 2019 Great Fish Community Challenge went to CASA for Kids!
Thanks to our generous supporters and the Whitefish Community Foundation's Match Grant, we exceeded our goal, raising $125,772!
When Superheroes team up to help others there’s nothing they can’t accomplish. The Avengers, the Justice League and the Guardians of the Galaxy have saved the world time and again from both domestic and galactic threats.
CASA Superheroes are not alone as they work to advocate for abused and neglected children. They are part of a team. CASA staff, coaches, board members, donors and supporters team up with the CASA to help them fulfill their mission of giving the children they serve a voice.
Superheroes don’t do what they do because it’s easy, they do it because they believe that it is their responsibility to use their powers to help those in need.
CASA Superheroes are volunteers. They have decided to use their powers to lift up the voices of abused and neglected children. To stand and say, “I am for the child!”
Every Superhero has their day job. CASA Superheroes are no exception. Teachers, nurses, business owners, realtors, and retired – they all have their professional and personal lives. Yet, they find a way to be a superhero for a child in the midst of it all. Hear from our local CASA Superheroes on how they fit being an advocate for abused and neglected children into their daily lives.
They may not be the Guardians of the Galaxy, but they are the Guardians (ad Litem) of the Flathead! Every superhero has an Origin Story – how they came to be a superhero. Hear Scott, Emmy, Tracey and Jacki as they share their Origin Stories of how they became CASA superheroes and Guardians of the Flathead!
Jenny (a Court Appointed Special Advocate) refused to let a child on her case settle for mediocrity.
Shyanne, a former foster child, shares how her CASA, Carol, made a difference in her life.
Read about one CASA's impact on the foster children they served and their foster family.
Boy it is hot outside! We thought it would be helpful to provide useful information about keeping children safe and cool during this scorching season. Here are a few helpful pointers:
June 23 is “National Let it Go Day”.
May is National Foster Care Month and is celebrated in order to recognize that we as a community can play a part in improving the lives of children and youth in foster care. At CASA, we advocate for children involved in the foster care system.
Child abuse is a serious issue that can have a lasting impact on the victim.
Last Saturday Night our Executive Director, Jamie Campbell, had the surprise of her life when she went back into the CASA office to retrieve the phone she left on her desk Friday.
In honor of World Poetry Day, CASA For Kids is hosting a poetry contest for children and teens.
January kicks off the New Year with new hopes and dreams, new opportunities, new challenges, and new doors to be opened…. and as Milton Berle once said, “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door!”
Jeannie Penner, a local CASA advocate shares what she is thankful for this season.
It was the dead of winter six years ago on the streets of Spokane.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM). Domestic violence negatively affects every community, as well as people of all ages and genders. CASA advocates speak for children in foster care and many of these children have experienced domestic violence - but you don’t need to be a CASA to help victims of domestic violence.
The Struggle is Real is a series devoted to telling the stories of those who fight the good fight against child abuse and neglect in Flathead County. Hear the second part of Jennifer's story!
Given the newest movie craze, Wonder Woman, is at the tip of everyone’s tongue, and the fact that CASA is committed to celebrating every day superheroes, it seems only appropriate to dive into a conversation about Superheroes. The specific focus of my blog series is the psychology of superheroes.
The Struggle is Real is a series devoted to telling the stories of those who fight the good fight against child abuse and neglect in Flathead County.
Do you love super heroes? Join us for a fun afternoon at Flathead Lake Lodge on July 30th from 12:00 to 4:00.
Check out this great video of one of our advocates! Chelsea Sellers shares what it means to be a CASA.
The beginning of summer brings golf for many people. CASA for Kids will be holding its 4th Annual Golf Scramble on Friday, June 16th!
Flathead has so much to offer it’s not hard to amuse yourself. And yet, many parents are gearing up for those dreaded words, “I’m bored…..”
"I entered care with 3 siblings, the younger 2 were adopted and I exited care with one. Saying ‘I love you’ when you haven’t seen someone for long time, especially when you don’t say ‘I love you’ to anyone, is difficult.”
“Excuse me.” A quiet, raspy voice comes from behind me. I look up from my coffee and the computer I am furiously typing away on to see an elderly woman with short messy hair and worn-out clothes. The air around her is slow and heavy, but her presence is gentle; her expression inquisitive.
You can only care for others to the extent that you care for yourself. Sometimes it feels selfish to take time for yourself. In reality, you must take time for yourself to rejuvenate your ability to empathize and care for those you love.
This is a special shout out to foster parents everywhere. Your work is not easy, but so critical in the lives of the children you take in to you hearts and homes.