CASA News and Events
5th Annual Candlelight Vigil
For the first time since the pandemic, Children First, Inc. and Athens-Oconee CASA are excited to bring back the Annual Candlelight Vigil in-person on Tuesday, May 31st!
This event sheds light on the realities of FOSTER CARE here in our own backyard. We want our physical presence to raise awareness and support for the high volume of children in our local foster care system. The event will begin at 5:30pm on the steps of the UGA Arch where participants will gather for about an hour. CASA staff and participants will share information and tea candles, while we hear from community leaders and peers on their experiences within our Athens-Oconee foster care system. Speakers will start speaking at 6 pm.
This will be a family friendly event and we are hoping to extend the invite to as many family and friends as possible!
For more information RSVP on Evite or Facebook.
This event sheds light on the realities of FOSTER CARE here in our own backyard. We want our physical presence to raise awareness and support for the high volume of children in our local foster care system. The event will begin at 5:30pm on the steps of the UGA Arch where participants will gather for about an hour. CASA staff and participants will share information and tea candles, while we hear from community leaders and peers on their experiences within our Athens-Oconee foster care system. Speakers will start speaking at 6 pm.
This will be a family friendly event and we are hoping to extend the invite to as many family and friends as possible!
For more information RSVP on Evite or Facebook.
December 10th - 2019 Holiday Celebrations
November 5th - 2nd Annual Candlelight Vigil
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This year Children First, Inc. and Athens Oconee CASA hosted our 2nd Annual Candlelight Vigil on November 5, 2019. First Baptist off Pulaski St. was kind enough to host us again and snacks were provided by Kappa Alpha Theta. We were so fortunate to hear from members of our community who have been involved with the foster care system. Our speakers this year were Judge Robin Shearer, DFCS Director Mary Barrett Yancey, CASA Lisa Sledge, and former Georgia foster youth, Anna Marie Favors. Everyone who spoke brought a different perspective to this year’s theme “Through Their Eyes” and helped to educate community members on the needs of the foster care system. Thank you to everyone who attended and made this event possible! |
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October 29th - Fall 2019 Swearing In
Congratulations to our Fall 2019 CASA class! We are so proud of all their hard work and very excited to see the difference they make in our communities!
August 1st, 2019 - Georgia CASA Conference
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We had many reasons to be excited about this year’s Georgia CASA Conference! Staff and volunteers were able to hear from the experts on topics like educational advocacy, supporting older youth transitioning from foster care, writing effective court reports, best practices for raising a youth’s voice, and cultural humility. In addition, Arden, Emily, and Susie had the chance to facilitate their own workshop on the importance of having CASA interns. It was a privilege to be able to share with a larger body how essential our interns are to the work we do every day. Finally, our newest recruitment video won 3rd place in the Georgia CASA video contest! Check out this video on our homepage.
These kinds of trainings are essential to the work with do with children and families every day. We were very proud to be able to offer this opportunity to our CASA volunteers and board members again this year. |
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June 10th - Reunification Month Declaration and Celebration
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Athens Oconee CASA had the honor of join in with the Children First Inc. team in our first annual reunification day celebration. At this celebrate Mayor Girtz declared June Reunification month. Thank you to all that came and celebrated this exciting event with us. |
June 1st - June 3rd - 2019 National CASA Conference
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The National CASA Conference was hosted in Atlanta this year! These are just some of the remarkable volunteers we were able to take with us to Atlanta.
The main focus of this year’s conference was building stronger families to achieve better outcomes for children. The common theme included throughout all the sessions were supporting children and their families--whether biological, kin or guardianship, foster or adoptive--with the understanding that the importance of family in a child's life cannot be overstated. We are very appreciative to have had so many of volunteer participate in this amazing learning opportunity. |
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April 16th, 2019 - Volunteer Appreciation
Thank you to all of our community partners, volunteers, and staff who make the work we do throughout the year possible!
March 2019 - GA CASA Fashion Show
Our staff and several volunteers enjoyed a day at CASA on the Catwalk to raise money for GA CASA. This luncheon and fashion show is GA CASA’s signature fundraising event. We felt very fortunate to get to attend this year.
Thank you so much Mrs. Kimberly Clark for hosting us!
Thank you so much Mrs. Kimberly Clark for hosting us!
Spring 2019 Training and Swearing In
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Spring 2019 we were able to train and swear in our biggest class ever! Out of this class we gained 24 new advocates for children. This class worked extremely hard. We are so excited about the amazing work these new CASAs are going to do for the children and families in Clarke and Oconee counties. |
February 14th, 2019 - CASA Day at the Capitol
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Athens Oconee CASA was proud to join GA CASA for our annual CASA Day at the Capitol. 300 CASA staff, board members, volunteers, and supporters from the state of Georgia met with legislators to thank them for their support of the CASA organization and to ask for their continued investment in CASA and support for child welfare initiatives in Georgia. |
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Children First and CASA Annual Holiday PartyIt was wonderful to see so many amazing people at our annual holiday party! |
November 2018 - Candle Light Vigil
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On November 5th, Athens Oconee CASA hosted our very first candle light vigil. In effort to bring public awareness to the prevalence of children in foster care, participants gathered at First Baptist Church and walked half a mile through downtown Athens to the Clarke County courthouse. At the courthouse we had the opportunity to hear inspirational speeches from Juvenile Court Judge Robin Shearer, DFCS case manager Valarie Norwood, and CASA volunteer Catherine Tillman. All speakers shared powerful information about the realities of foster care and each speaker shared personal stories revealing how CASA’s have made an impactful difference in the lives of children. Ms. Norwood also expressed the dire need for foster homes in Clarke and Oconee counties. Thank you to all those who attended the vigil! We encourage you to continue helping us raise awareness for the children in need in our area!
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