Norma:
Norma Jackson was sitting in her
favorite chair, watching the end of the evening news, when she saw a commercial
for CASA. It was something like this one: http://www.youtube.com/user/casaforchildren?feature=results_main
She had been looking for something to do with
her time since her last child had moved away to college and working with kids
was something she had always enjoyed. She hastily scrawled the number on the edge
of a napkin and tucked it into the book sitting on the table beside her. ‘I will call tomorrow,’ she decided and
then watched the end of the news and headed to bed. The next morning, Norma sat
down at her kitchen table. Armed with pen, paper, hot coffee, the napkin and
the phone, she settled in and prepared to call. One ring…two…
Kathy:
BEEP!!
BEEP!! BEEP!! BEEP!! BEE... CRASH!!!
Kathy Price turned off the alarm
by smashing the snooze button with her work-calloused hand, clumsily, and
reached out to turn on the lamp with a yawn. She stretched and yawned again
before getting out of bed and headed to the kitchen. On her way she leaned down
to pick up a book off the floor. It was one of Robert’s many. There was a
picture of an owl on the cover and the title was “Whooooo Are You?”.
“I’ll tell you who I am,” Kathy
said to no one in particular. “I am an average, middle class American. I have
three children; Ben, who turns fifteen this year, Robert who is nine and my
Rose. My Rose will be nine months old next week.” She smiled thinking of her
children. Then her smile slowly faded and her mouth settled into a bitter, grim
line.
“The shiftless men who helped me
create these beautiful babies are nowhere to be found. Ben’s father, Jason,
remarried and now he and his wife have a new baby. Jason doesn’t want anything
to do with me or with his son. He doesn’t send any money either. Does he think
fourteen year old boys’ clothes, shoes and food grow on the
nonexistent trees in my nonexistent backyard? Almost the same can be said for
Robert and Rose’s father, Ernie Price. After our divorce a year and a half ago,
I haven’t heard from him other than a couple of money orders that came with
letters for Robert. Then there wasn’t anything for a long time and we had to
move because I couldn’t keep up with the rent on my own. I won’t be able to
afford this place much longer either,” she muttered out loud as she pulled the
clothes out of the dryer and carried the hamper over to the couch.
That thought led to the almost
empty coffee tin on top of the already empty refrigerator. Kathy did not make
enough money at her two jobs to need bank account. The coffee tin was her bank
account. As soon as she got her biweekly paychecks, they were cashed and spent
on rent, food and bills. Plus, winter
was approaching and that would probably mean deciding between heating the
apartment or buying diapers. She shook her head as she went about her morning
routine.
Norma:
“Good morning and thank you for
calling CASA of the South Plains. My name is Amanda. How may I help you today?”,
a voice rang out cheerily across the line. Norma smiled and asked how she could
learn more about what CASA is and what their volunteers do.
Amanda told Norma “the mission of
CASA of the South Plains is to recruit, train, and support community members,
like you, to serve as volunteer who advocate for the best interests of abused
and neglected children in the foster care system.”
Amanda collected Norma’s contact
information and promised to mail her a packet.
She then transferred the Norma to Peggy, one of the recruiter/trainers
at the CASA office, to talk further about becoming a CASA Volunteer. Norma was intrigued with everything Peggy had
to say. She mentioned a CASA pre-service
training class was scheduled about five weeks away. If she decided to move forward, and had the
time, she could certainly sign up for the upcoming training. She
wasn’t sure if she could really do this or not but she was willing to take the
next step. Peggy suggested she watch a
few volunteer testimonials to see what motivated others to volunteer
for CASA. She agreed to come in to the office to meet with Peggy and do the
initial paperwork necessary to begin the process. They scheduled the meeting for the next week.
As Norma hung up the phone, she
realized there was more to CASA than she initially thought. She continued to mull over her conversation
with the recruiter. Knowing her time was
quickly going by she put the thought aside, thinking she’d have more time to
explore this when she received her paperwork and attended the interview; for
now she had to get ready for work.
Check back on 12/5 for Part 2 of Norma's Volunteer Story.
