CASA SHaW Continues During COVID-19 Crisis
Submitted by Jeff Warren
Court Appointed Special Advocates of Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren Counties (CASA SHaW) is one of the nonprofits in our region that is doing its part to make sure that vulnerable children and families have items they can utilize as they cope with our new social realities during the COVID-19 crisis.
“Child abuse and neglect increase when schools are closed, caregivers lose their income, and worries about bills, food, and family stress builds. Due to the current crisis we all are facing and our new social realities of being quarantined, many foster children do not have ready access to their regular stabilizers and safety nets. We have been delivering items to help these kids and their families by letting them know they are not forgotten during this time,” said Tracey Heisler, Executive Director of CASA SHaW.
In addition to helping children in foster care, CASA SHaW has also been delivering items like First Night bags, toiletry kits, birthday bags and boxes, nightlights, books, pajamas, school supplies, crayons and coloring books, backpacks, puzzles, games, and socks to other families in the community who need support. Staff also made “comfort bags” for medical personnel at local hospitals with donations from the Bound Brook Women’s Club. These donations came to CASA SHaW from friends like St. John of the Mountain Church in Bernardsville, New York Life in Lebanon, the Jack and Jill Club of Central New Jersey, numerous women’s club groups in the tri-counties, and many other community partners.
Heisler recently received a heartwarming message from a grandmother of a foster child indicating that her very depressed 13-year old grandson, of whom she has custody, was elated to have received a birthday bag, a birthday box, and a First Night bag from CASA SHaW. “She told me, ‘it has been years since I have seen him as excited as he was going through his birthday bag and the other things you brought,’” Heisler said. “It is truly amazing what we can all do collectively even during times of uncertainty and fear,” said Heisler.
CASA of Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren Counties is part of a statewide network of community-based, non-profit programs that recruit, screen, train and supervise volunteers to “Speak Up for a Child” removed from home due to abuse or neglect. CASA is the only program in New Jersey that uses trained volunteers to work one-on-one with children, ensuring that each one gets the services needed and achieves permanency in a safe, nurturing home. To find a local CASA program in your county, visit casaofnj.org.
