CASA In Need of Hundreds of Volunteers
By: Alexandra Stone
Updated: October 30, 2012
The Amarillo CASA needs volunteers. Right now, 50 percent of court appointed kids, around 200 out of 400 in the panhandle, are without advocates.
The November training kicked off Monday. And for one new volunteer, the program has special meaning.
Aeryka Freidhofer was paired with a CASA volunteer as a child in foster care. Now, she's going through training to become a CASA herself.
"She was just somebody I could rely on. And that's why I want to be that for a child, because I know how it is. I know how it feels to be on that side, and now I can be on this side," Friedhofer said.
Volunteers put in 30 hours of training before being paired with a child. The next training will be in January. And the Amarillo office hopes to start flex training programs in 2013 to help out those who want to get involved, but can't commit to set meeting times.
