CASA of the Heartland Executive Director Michelle Kail says if she had to pick one word for the organization in 2024, it is “growth.”
“At the start of 2024, we were serving in two counties,” Kail said. “We had picked up LaRue County as part of our service area in August of 2023, and then in 2024 we picked up three additional counties to include Meade, Breckinridge, and Grayson counties.”
Kail presented a recap of the organization’s activities in 2024 to the Elizabethtown City Council during their work session Monday. After picking up those three counties following the dissolving of Tri-County CASA, Kail says 98 volunteers served 265 children across the five-county region, but there is still work to be done.
“We still have 65 children who are waiting for a CASA volunteer, so our waitlist consists of children that our local family court judges have appointed us to, but we don’t yet have a volunteer to take those cases,” Kail said.
Kail says if you are unable to volunteer as a court-appointed special advocate there are still ways to support the organization such as serving on the board, donating, attending CASA events, and joining the Friends of CASA program.
“Those are individuals who maybe don’t have the capacity to serve as an advocate for the children, but they still have the heart to help and have some time, just maybe they are not able to make the commitment to serve as an advocate, but maybe want to help with event planning or clerical work,” Kail said. “We scan a lot of papers in the office.”
Upcoming events include the CASA Loves Community Luncheon on February 11 and the Light the Night 5K on May 9. Visit casaheartland.org for more information.
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