childadvocate

Show Notes:

During the height of COVID, CASA of San Joaquin County faced the fact that over 1500 children from the County were living in foster care. These abused and neglected children had been removed from their families and placed in foster homes, group homes (now called STRTPs), or even at our county's homeless shelter. To address this challenge, CASA connects children and youth living in foster care with a community volunteer who makes an 18-24 month commitment to advocate and mentor them.

When Dani started with CASA in October of 2021, she was given a bold goal to recruit 42 community members from diverse walks of life. To follow through on this commitment, she was able to not only reach her goal but surpass it. Through the smart use of social media and focused outreach, she was able to attract a diverse and multi-generational group of volunteers dedicated to helping youth navigate the court system.

In this episode, Dani shares her recipe for effective social media and how she overcame her anxiety around making cold calls (don’t we all have that?!). In the end, it’s all about staying true to your mission and communicating your passion for those you serve in a compassionate and accessible way. Dani shows us how it’s done with grace and focus!

Learn more about the work of CASA and how you can help at:

• www.nochildabuse.org/casa
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/casa-of-san-joaquin-county/
• https://www.facebook.com/CASAsanjoaquincounty
• https://www.instagram.com/casaofsjcounty/

For More:

For more on how another organization approached diversifying their volunteer team, check out Time + Talent Podcast Episode 108: The Rewards & Challenges of Nonprofit Board Diversity - Part 1 and Episode 109: The Rewards & Challenges of Nonprofit Board Diversity - Part 2

Guest Bio:

Dani Daly is the Recruiter/Trainer for CASA of San Joaquin County. As an educator and a mother, Dani noticed the needs of children living in the foster care system. Dani noticed that the students she worked closely with, as well as the friends of her two school-aged children, who resided in foster care, often felt alone having few adults who were in their lives who weren't being paid to be there. 

After years of working in education, Dani joined CASA of San Joaquin County to make a difference in the lives of children in foster care. Dani works diligently to recruit San Joaquin County citizens to join the CASA organization and is passionate about diversifying the pool of volunteers to more closely represent our county's youth in foster care.

You can reach Dani on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-daly-55292198/

And via email at ddaly@nochildabuse.org

This week we are joined by our co-hosts Matt “The Man” Moore and Trent Denson (Spread the Positive), and special guests Christy Webb and Emily Layton. We got to catch up with Matt and the world of Best Buy, reminisce with Christy and the years she has spent on the board of Waves, Inc., and learn all about the incredible work Emily does with the non-profit, Williamson County CASA. Emily is the executive director of Williamson County CASA. We talk about the importance of the volunteers/advocates that work directly with the children within the program. Matt kept the conversation going by catching up with Emily and asking her questions about her new job. Christy, Emily, and Matt went down memory lane and talked about when Emily worked for Waves!

Darren and Margie Fink are an amazing couple who jumped into Foster Care and Adoption head first!

Together they created Transfiguring Adoption.

Darren received his bachelor's degree in visual fine arts. Since university, he has worked in varying graphic design and social media management positions. He's an imaginative foster/adoptive parent that can get children to go to bed by inventing a detailed story about small, friendly creatures living throughout the house that only come out at night. Darren helped co-found Community Kids, a resource and networking 501(c)3 created to assist foster/adoptive families.

Margie received her degree in psychology and has worked in various social work capacities. Margie has been chosen in the past to speak on Capitol Hill about the Refundable Adoption Tax Credit. She is a witty foster/adoptive mom who is able to give kids from hard places a loving structure while providing unbelievable homemade cooking. Margie co-founded Community Kids, a resource and networking 501(c)3 created to assist foster, adoptive, and relative caregiver families. Check Out: Wise Thoughts From A Foster-Adoptive Mom

We talked about Transfiguring Adoption's origin story as well as their own as a foster and adoptive family. If you have kids, they are a great resource. 

If you are a foster or adoptive family, they are a necessity!