WEST ORANGE, NJ — Braving the elements in bright red T-shirts and even brighter smiles, a group of more than 100 volunteers gathered for the Homeward Bound Walk hosted by the CASA for Children of Essex County under the Clipper Pavilion of the South Mountain Recreation Complex in West Orange on Sunday, Oct. 15.
Based in Newark, CASA for Children of Essex County is a nonprofit organization that promotes the welfare of children who have been removed from their homes because of abuse, neglect or abandonment by providing a safety net of support, advocacy and mentorship. CASA trains and supervises volunteers, or “court appointed special advocates,” to speak up for the best interests of these children in court, and to ensure that each child has the opportunity to thrive by receiving needed services and assistance while helping to move the child toward a safe and permanent home.
CASA raises the entirety of its budget anew each year through grants and donations. Government funding, foundation grants and individual donations each account for roughly one-third of the independent organization’s annual revenue.
However, the goal of Sunday’s walk was not to raise funds, but rather awareness for the work that it does and how others can become involved.
“Our hope for this walk is to assist in raising awareness for CASA in Essex County; this was our second year doing the walk and we hope to grow year after year,” development Director Jamie Decter said in a recent phone interview. “Our goal is to continue doing a walk and make it something that the entire family can be involved with. It’s hard to include children in fundraising events sometimes, and we wanted to have an event that the whole family, pets included, could participate in.”
Decter said that the event serves as a great way to bring together not only the board members and the supporters from the community, but also the advocates who are trained every year to work with children in the foster care system.
“We don’t view it as a fundraiser, we truly view it as a family function for awareness,” she said.
Dedicated board members and CASA staff worked together to bring the walk to fruition. They all wanted to highlight the organization’s goal to find a safe and permanent home for each child in the Essex County foster care system.
“My personal inspiration for planning this event is that I’m a retired teacher and I remember that when I was still teaching, the longest days of the school year seemed to be the ones after everyone was finished their state testing because nobody was interested in paying attention in class on a Friday after they just finished days of state testing on a Thursday,” board member Jill Rosenthal said in an Oct. 16 phone interview. “In the same way, I wanted to do an event that wasn’t about raising money, but having fun and including family and friends in the activities. The idea just grew from that, and now in our second year, we are at least double the size of participants as we were in our first year doing the walk.”
As a former teacher, Rosenthal said she knows that for some children school is the safest destination they have; her experiences help her understand just how important it is to provide stability for the children CASA volunteers assist.
“Most of the time I taught kids with behavioral issues, and some of the kids were the parents in the home, and there were times that I had to visit kids in jail. As much as they fight you on the rules, they like structure and at school the students knew what to expect,” she said. “Since the whole basis of CASA is to help to find the kids a forever home, we thought the name ‘Homeward Bound’ sounded good. There’s no place like home for a foster kid.”
For board member Debra Neier, the Homeward Bound Walk was truly a family affair, as both she and her husband, Darryl Neier, joined in the festivities, and both are also trained advocates with the organization.
“I got involved with CASA through fellow board member Jill Rosenthal. I have been a nonprofit accountant for years and I was looking for a board to get involved with and give back to the community,” Debra Neier said in an Oct. 16 phone interview. “I joined the board in the spring of 2016 and, after going to all of these wonderful functions, my husband Darryl and I asked if we could audit a volunteer training class, and the response was that we should just go ahead and do the whole training program, so we did.”
Debra Neier said becoming a trained volunteer for the organization while serving on the board has given her a unique perspective on the work they are doing, and she is grateful for the opportunity.
“I became an advocate because I was on the board and hearing about the work the volunteers were doing was appealing to me. Going through the training classes and learning about the many facets of the foster care system and what the children are really facing was an eye-opening experience for me, and one that I think every board member would appreciate,” she said. “It makes all the difference in the world when you get to see both sides and you have a completely different understanding of what we do and why the fundraising is so important.
“Last year it was more about the board members because it was our first walk. This year we made a conscious effort to reach out to the advocates to make sure they knew they were welcome and that we really wanted them there,” Debra Neier continued. “Getting involved with CASA on both levels, as both a board member and as an advocate, is the best thing that I ever did. If I can make a difference in these kids’ lives, or give the courts the information they need so that the judges can make a truly informed decision, then I’m happy.”
For more information on how to become involved with CASA for Children of Essex County, contact interim volunteer manager Brenda Schwartz at 973-622-4831 or bschwartz@casaessex.org.
Photos Courtesy of Shanee Frazier, Jamie Decter and Jill Rosenthal
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