CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Giving abused and neglected children a voice is the goal for volunteers with CASA of the Coastal Bend.
Volunteers are court advocates for kids, and the organization needs more of them.
Members with CASA of the Coastal Bend say their volunteers are the backbone of their program.
The organization is hosting an information session that will explain how this can be a life-changing experience for many area children.
Court Appointed Special Advocates or known as CASA volunteers do their best to help children who have been in dangerous situations like abuse or neglect in their home life and seek a better future.
“We really need the community to step up I mean it's a bad epidemic that we have going on right now and the majority of our cases over 90% it's because of substance abuse,” says Diana Booth with CASA of the Coastal Bend.
The organization is holding an information session that will reveal how you can take part and make a difference in a child’s life.
“So when a CASA volunteer enters a child’s life, it's not just like they’re going to be there mentor, they have rights as that court-appointed advocate to look out for their medical needs and to also go to school,” says Booth.
Currently, the group has about ninety volunteers that cover Nueces, Aransas, and San Patricio counties.
There are more than a thousand kids in the foster care system and many are still waiting for an advocate.
Staff with CASA of the Coastal Bend say their volunteers know they are making a difference for generations to come.
“They know that that they are breaking a cycle of abuse and neglect and that is a huge thing for these individuals, I mean you're not just helping a child you are breaking a cycle and you are helping their children not to be abused and their children’s-children not to be abused,” says Booth.
The information session will be Wednesday, July 31st, 2019 at the CASA of the Coastal Bend building 2602 Prescott Street.
The meeting will start at noon and will run for about forty-five minutes.
