Meet Fernando Porras of Clark
By Jahi McDonald, CASA of Union County
By the time this goes to press, my three-month internship will have ended. What will endure, is getting to know and work alongside my fellow intern Fernando Porras. In addition to stepping up to serve as an intern a year ago — and working some 20+ hours a week since in that capacity — he is an active CASA volunteer, well into his second case as a child advocate.
From processing donor thank yous, navigating excel spreadsheets, seeking community involvement amid a virtual fundraising campaign, to shooting videos for social media, sorting and hauling holiday wish list toys, and even donning superhero costumes for Adoption Day, Fernando has been a patient, committed role model for CASA’s critical work. His mantra, “Anything for the kids,” is one I’ve heard him say countless times but seen him put into action even more.
While being an advocate and yearlong intern is plenty for a CASA of Union County highlight, it’s his personal journey, and all he’s made of it, that shines even brighter. After his first CASA case – a 13-year-old boy – closed, he immediately began his current case, advocating for 5- and 10-year-old brothers. His visits, he says, often include intense Beyblades battles. “I remember playing with Beyblades at that age, so it’s even more memorable to bond over something I’m familiar with. Also, superheroes! Maybe I’m still a kid at heart,” he quips, adding, “As an advocate, you read about their life in stacks of paperwork, but being able to spend time with them as they enjoy the little things? It gives me such a different perspective on life.” When he sees their smiles, he says, he’s overcome with joy.
And joy is something — like every CASA youth — that Fernando deserves. In April 2018, a month before his college graduation, he was diagnosed with leukemia. He says, “Though I was told the diagnosis was just a matter of ‘bad luck’ … my life turned upside down.” Sparing the details of hospitalizations, procedures and finishing the tail-end of college amid unknowns and medical crises, let’s take Fernando’s lead and focus on the positive: August marked three years in remission. Continued monitoring from his medical team as well as navigating other lifelong health challenges resulting from the very treatments that saved his life are now his norm.
Fernando continues, “In summer 2019, I started trying to piece my life back together. I was discussing the future with a hospital social worker and she told me CASA would be a perfect fit. I’m so glad I took her words to heart; I did my research, went to an information session, and the rest is history.”
In addition to advocating for three youth, the 25-year-old cancer survivor used the yearlong intern assignment as a sabbatical of sorts, undergoing an intensive and thorough LSAT study period and he’s now amid the nerve-wracking law school admissions process. I asked him how he juggles it all, when each ball carries great weight: “I’ve always been a ‘yes’ person. If something needs to be done, I’ll do it. Some may not see that as a positive as I do … but there’s always time to do more.”
In addition to enduring love and respect for his close-knit family, Fernando’s fondness for travel also keeps him on his toes. Before he embeds himself in a law school lecture hall, there are plans to travel as much as possible, amid Covid-restraints and minding his health, of course. He recently visited family in Ecuador and soon will share his unwavering support for his beloved Atletico de Madrid soccer team with a jaunt to Spain.
When life was suddenly outside his firm grasp, Fernando reached wider and gripped harder, there’s no question. Still, he’s always sure to make time for the betterment of others’ lives. He fondly quotes an uncle, “Never say you ‘can’t’ do something, because what it really means is that you ‘won’t.’ It’s stuck with me and allowed me to work outside my comfort zone … comfortably.”
While experiences make you who you are — and in Fernando’s case that certainly proves true —he also reminds me that people make those experiences. For us at CASA, that’s Fernando. For Fernando, that’s his family, including grandparents who modeled resiliency and hard work, lessons for which he is grateful. When, during the last weeks of his internship, Fernando unexpectedly lost his beloved grandfather, colleagues at services saw firsthand his tightly woven net that is family, and that his commitment to life and bettering it comes from a deep well of connection, generations old.
Asked to look back on recent years, when best-laid plans didn’t happen and an unexpected diagnosis did, he offers: “I truly think everything happens for a reason. I’ll always have an endless number of unanswered questions — but at the same time, I’ll always be grateful that I found CASA of Union County.”
In addition to serving as a fall marketing intern for CASA of Union County, Jahi McDonald is a 2020 graduate of Rutgers University-New Brunswick, with plans to begin a career in public relations and marketing.
About CASA of Union County
Volunteers with Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Union County serve as extra eyes and ears for family law judges hearing cases involving the county’s abused, neglected or abandoned children removed from home and placed in foster care.
CASA volunteers have court-ordered access to all parties in a foster child’s life, including foster parents, doctors, caseworkers, therapists and teachers, and incorporate into court reports findings from these contacts as well as from their own time spent with the youth. Advocates ensure a youth’s needs are met and their time in care is as short as possible.
It is CASA of Union County’s goal that every Union County foster child have an advocate, yet half of the more than 500 such youth still await one. Could you be their voice? Contact Lucia to learn more lfield@casaofunioncounty.org or visit casaofunioncounty.org.
