Page 124 - South Mississippi Living - December, 2019

GivingBACK advocates for children
CASA of Harrison County
story by Jeff Clark photos courtesy of CASA of Harrison County
Every child needs a voice, especially children that have been neglected or abused. That’s the message CASA of Harrison County wants to convey. Since 2010, Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA, have been providing a voice for children, especially in the courts system, so that they do not get lost in the shuffle.
Harrison County Board of Supervisors President Marlin Ladner, CASA of Harrison County Director Jeannie Herrin and Harrison County District 1 Supervisor Beverly Martin attend a CASA event.
“In 2019 alone,
we have provided
services for about
195 children,” CASA
of Harrison County
Director Jeannie
Herrin said. “In
Harrison County, we
have led the state in
cases of neglect and
abuse for a very long
time. It was that way
when I came here in
2010. We are always looking for community volunteers to advocate for these children.”
Herrin says that CASA is always in the recruitment process. “We will be doing our next training in January.
It runs for about three weeks. Our volunteers must get 30 hours of training before they can even take a case. This is not like a regular volunteer job – it is boots on the ground helping these children and families.”
CASA is not only looking to recruit volunteers but
the non-profit organization is also accepting monetary donations. With the program’s funding coming from donations and grants, she said the community support, especially financially, has been very strong.
“We don’t do a lot of fundraising events,” she said. “But we’ve been very lucky because we have a lot of people and businesses who continually support us. No one wants to talk about child abuse – it’s a difficult subject. But we have to strengthen our families to strengthen our community.”
To donate to CASA of Harrison County, go to casaharrisoncounty.org.
CASA of Harrison County | 47 Maples Dr. #B, Gulfport | 228.865.7078 | www.casaharrisoncounty.org
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