Are you brave enough TO GO OVER THE EDGE for abused and neglected children?
EVENT DATE: May 22, 2021
LOCATION: Hyatt Place Eugene, 333 Oakway Rd, Eugene
PRESENTED BY: Oakway Center
How do I participate?
- SIGN UP NOW to become an Edger
- Easily set up your personal fundraising page
- Reach the $1,000 fundraising minimum! (you will get LOTS of support)
- Experience the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rappel down Hyatt Place Eugene!
ABOUT CASA of Lane County :
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Lane County is a powerful voice for children who are in the child welfare system due to abuse and neglect.
For over 25 years, CASA of Lane County has struggled with a difficult choice: which vulnerable children will receive the powerful voice of a CASA volunteer and which children will not. Lane County has one of the highest rates of children in foster care in Oregon: last year, over 1,200 children spent at least one night in foster care. All of these children have suffered from neglect or abuse at the hands of their parents. Resources currently allow CASA to serve 429 children a year, about 35% of the need in our county. Without the powerful voice of an advocate, children too often return to unsafe homes or languish in long-term foster care , risking future abuse or neglect.
So many things have changed over the past year. But one thing that hasn’t changed is the difference that a CASA volunteer makes in the life of a child. Our program and volunteers have seen first-hand the pandemic’s impact on the children and families we serve. This includes the disruption of children’s support networks and the suspension of critically important services like visitation with family, therapy and special education services. And as schools begin to re-open, we are seeing the predicted increase in reports of neglect and abuse.
Our program staff and volunteers have been able to pivot to serve children and families in a different way. They continue to recruit, provide online training, and hold virtual swearing-in ceremonies for new volunteers. Staff and volunteers are also providing socially distant advocacy—Facetiming, texting, and Zooming. By being that caring consistent adult, these volunteers have been the certainty in uncertain times for the children we serve.
