News and Events

Steps for Change Awards Event
As most of you know April is Child Abuse Awareness Month so it was a busy month in Anchorage. There were many activities available throughout Anchorage to educate and raise awareness about child abuse and its impact on families. On April 7th, the Steps for Change event (formally Light of Hope) was held at the Anchorage Senior Center with more than two hundred people in attendance. The purpose of this event is to recognize and celebrate all the community people that dedicate their lives to the care and safety of Alaska's children. A parent and a teenager shared their experiences in the child protection system. Their stories and input were inspiring. Over sixty five people were nominated for their outstanding efforts on behalf of children and families impacted by child abuse, including four CASA volunteers. The CASA volunteers nominated were Peter and Carol Ann Irsfeld, Jesse Smith and Carroll Schmidt. Jesse Smith received the Steps for Change Award. Way to go, CASA volunteers! The goal is for the Steps for Change event to be an annual event so we will keep you posted.

CASA Reunion
On April 22nd Anchorage hosted a CASA reunion at the BP Energy Building and all past and present CASAs were invited. It was a great opportunity for CASAs to reconnect with other volunteers, GALs, CASA staff and FAC board members. The program included time to socialize and a very nice dinner was provided. Dr. Laura Jones was our guest speaker and she once again presented invaluable and current information about attachment - especially with younger children. The CASA reunion was also a time for the FAC board members and the CASA staff to recognize and show our heartfelt appreciation to our wonderful CASA volunteers for their commitment to Alaska's children. We are fortunate to have such outstanding CASA volunteers in the Anchorage CASA Program. Every CASA volunteer received a service award and certificate.

Fall Training Scheduled
Anchorage CASA will train a new group of volunteers beginning September 15th. Please help us get the word out. Forward this to a friend or family member, or better yet, bring a friend to an information meeting. View the schedule.

Wow! What a spring. We couldn't ask for better weather in the sunny southeast. The ships are in and Goldbelt Tram has again donated passes so that the volunteers can take their kids to the top of the mountain to admire the view (the unobscured view, I might add).

Juneau volunteers, Robbie Stell, Laura Haywood, D Owens and Sheri Williams made the hike to Denver and attended the National CASA conference. By all reports, the volunteers learned a great deal and were really inspired by the presentations. I also think that we may have had a Dr. Phil groupie in our bunch. Robbie and D won the lottery and were able to attend the conference courtesy of FAC.

Stephany Day from the OCS Independent Living Program will be coming in for our brown bag on June 10. This is an important resource for our youth in foster care and I am excited for us to all have a chance to learn more about it. We will have a brown bag training on the effects of DV on children on August 12.
CASA Kudos

Sheri Williams continues to go above and beyond making sure that the kids in her case have visitation with their parents. Two of our new volunteers have jumped right into their cases. D Owens continues to work on behalf of her kids despite the obstacles in the way.

Hello to all our friends from Kenaitze Indian Tribe CASA. The month of May went by so fast I can barely recall all that happened! First of all I would like to thank everyone for being so supportive of our program here in Kenai. Together we can be the voice for all children in Alaska.

May 11th I met with folks from Friends of Alaska CASA (FAC) and we had a wonderful meeting, discussed some new ideas, goals and achievements. We said our goodbyes to Sallye Werner outgoing president of FAC.

May 12th I met with Marion Hallum and folks from AK CASA. This meeting and many to come will be the start of a wonderful friendship and partnership with AK CASA and Kenaitze Indian Tribe CASA.

May 13th Michael Heaton (NCASAA), Marion Hallum (AK CASA) and myself met with folks from Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) and discussed on ways we could all better work together for AK Native Children in need.

May 14th Kenaitze Indian Tribe hosted a CASA 101, Michael Heaton NCASAA presented with the assistance of Marion Hallum AK CASA and myself. We had a wonderful turn out and hope to see more awareness here on the peninsula and as a result more volunteers!

May 24-28th I traveled to Bethel, AK along with Michael Heaton NCASAA, Marion Hallum AK CASA and Valerie Dudley AK CASA to spread the word about CASA in Alaska and what the program would offer the community and 56 surrounding villages!

As you can see the month of May was a very busy one and I just have to say I am excited, encouraged and look forward to doing more work on behalf of all abused and neglected children in our State.

We are currently recruiting for a summer class to happen sometime in June and/or July so if you or someone you know are interested, please give Jamey a call at 775-2978.

The annual National CASA conference was held in April this year and was a huge success, lots of fun, and very inspiring. We came back with a lot of ideas including ways to bring in more volunteers, ways to better advocate for youth in the system, and great ideas for making volunteering in the Valley a fun and rewarding experience. We are excited to share these new ideas with our volunteers and look forward to the many rewards we will experience because of them.