National Volunteer Appreciation Week

In honor of National Volunteer Appreciation Week CASA of Luzerne County wants to share some information about our amazing volunteers.

Advocating by the Numbers

CASA of Luzerne County currently has 59 volunteer advocates giving a voice to 81 children in the dependency court system in Luzerne County.

CASA volunteers helped 20 children achieve permanency in 2021. Most of these children were reunited safely with their parents or caregivers and some found a new forever home through adoption.

CASA volunteers contributed approximately 3,245,320 hours to their advocacy in 2021! They spent these hours forming bonds, talking to schools and doctors, learning about the court and child welfare system and ultimately advocating for the best interest of the child.

The average number of years a CASA has been volunteering with the organization is 3 years but CASA of Luzerne County has volunteers who were sworn at the inaugural swearing in ceremony in 2013.

Who are our Advocates?

Our advocates are parents, grandparents, single, married, retired persons, working persons, students, men and women of all ages. Our advocates represent a little bit of everyone. Each advocate has their own story, as does the children they advocate for. Each advocate is on their own journey. They are not only changing the life of a child but they are changing their own life through advocacy.

Thank You!

The words Thank You, seem so simplistic but the staff and the Board of Directors of CASA of Luzerne County cannot thank our volunteers enough. Without the dedicated people who give their greatest resource, time, to the children in the dependency court system CASA of Luzerne County would cease to exist. It is humbling to see the work, hear the stories and share the outcomes of the cases with the advocates. The difference that each of you make in the life of a child cannot be measured and will last a lifetime.

Thank you to all the past, current and future advocates. Your time, energy, passion, dedication and heart for these children is a special gift.

How can you join this special club?

If you are interested in becoming an advocate with CASA of Luzerne County please call the office at 570-855-2247 and schedule to come to an information session. Our staff and our amazing advocates would love to share their stories of advocacy with you.

We are only heading into April and CASA of Luzerne County has had a busy year. Here are some highlights. We hope to see you at one of our upcoming events or in an information session!

Action in Advocacy!

We began the year with 53 active advocates serving 79 children with 10 on a waitlist.

We are excited to announce that there will be 10 new advocates sworn in by the Honorable Judge Rogers on Thursday, April 14th. These advocates had an incredible training session led by Brennan, Jade and Meghan. They are ready to jump into advocacy and clear the waitlist. Our goal is to have 70 active advocates by the end of 2022. Information sessions are already being scheduled for the Fall training class beginning in August - help us achieve our goal.

We held a fun Advocate and Staff Meet & Greet at Sabatini’s Bottle Shop on February 24th. It was so wonderful to get together in person again. We will be scheduling more opportunities to get together as the weather gets warmer.

Six of our advocates will be joining the CASA of Luzerne County staff in Harrisburg for the PA CASA Conference on Trauma Informed Advocacy on April 11th and 12th. This was made possible by a grant provided to PA CASA by the Mercy Foundation. We are so grateful to share this opportunity with our advocates. Our organization is participating in a Trauma Informed/Mental Health Advocacy pilot program through PA CASA, championed by Meghan Kosek. Exciting expansion of our advocacy!

CASA in the Community

CASA of Luzerne County had a float in the Pittston St. Patrick’s Parade. It was a great day to be out in the community, and we heard so many positive comments from the parade-goers. We loved bringing community awareness to the Pittston area.

Our organization is teaming with both Misericordia University and Wilkes University to make informative videos regarding volunteer child advocacy. Misericordia University will be filming a 30-minute interview with staff which will be broadcasted on social media. Wilkes University will be recording short video clips of advocates and staff to promote the need for volunteer advocates. These videos will be utilized in many ways. We love our local colleges and universities, and their support and dedication to the community is inspiring.

The Start a Movement Campaign was a week long community awareness and fundraising campaign teaming CASA of Luzerne County with many gyms and wellness facilities in the area during the last full week of March. The Anthracite Fitness Factory, Pittston (shown above), The Cycle Yard, Pittston, The Salt Barre, Pittston, Orangetheory, Kingston, Balance Yoga and Wellness, Forty Fort, and Mrida Seva Yoga, Berwick (owned by our Program Director, Brennan Morell and her mother) participated in the campaign. While we still don’t have the total for the donations, we know that our message was received by many. Our Facebook posts were shared 69 times, and we reached 11,454 people that week. We are so grateful for the community participation and for the excitement to start a movement for the children in the dependency court system of Luzerne County. This will be a campaign worth repeating.

A team from Leadership Northeast is renovating our Advocate/Youth space on the lower floor of our building. The team name is Mi CASA es su CASA. We are bursting at the seams to share photos with you of the progress, but we can wait a little bit longer. The space will be a place for our advocates to bring the youth to do many different activities including art, yoga, puzzles, watch movies, do homework and just talk. This space will help CASA of Luzerne County structure some new programming to build resiliency in the children we serve. Keep an eye out for the big reveal! Please visit the team’s Facebook page to donate to the project. Mi CASA es su CASA-Leadership Northeast.

Preparations for the 5th annual NEPA Sings competition are in full swing! The in-person auditions will be held at The Think Center in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, April 23rd. We are looking for the best and brightest singers to lift up the voices of the children in Luzerne County. If you are 16 or older and you would like to audition, please register at luzernecasa.org/nepasings

The show will be broadcasted on the big screen at the Moonlite Drive-In, West Wyoming, on June 16. Imagine seeing yourself up on that big screen!!! The winner will receive studio time at AHHIE Tracks, plus many other exciting prizes.

It is not too late for businesses to advertise at the show. If you are interested in a sponsorship, please send an email to office@luzernecasa.org and we will get the information to you.

The staff of CASA of Luzerne County will be participating in the United Way Day of Caring on May 11th. We will be helping Dress for Success create a new space for their services. We couldn’t do it without community partners and they can’t do it without us. We are excited to help.

CASA of Luzerne County have become members of the Greater Pittston Chamber of Commerce. We can’t wait to learn more about the area and recruit advocates from such a community-focused area. We are proud members of the Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce, and the collaboration between the two organizations is inspiring.

Wrapping up…….

CASA of Luzerne County continues to recruit, train and support volunteer child advocates to give a voice and a future story to the children in the Luzerne County Court System. Please call if you are interested in becoming an advocate or joining one of our committees that support our organization. Call 570-855-2247 or email office@luzernecas.org and we will contact you.

Thank you for your ongoing support and interest in CASA of Luzerne County.

CASA of Luzerne County has the BEST Volunteers!