"I will continue to be a part of her life for as long as she wants me to be. I hope that will be a long time." - Karen, CASA Volunteer

WRITTEN BY:

KAREN, CASA VOLUNTEER

I was matched with MR a couple of weeks before her 8th birthday, after being in the system for a few years already. When we were matched, she was living with her biological father who she had never met until months before. He spoke very little English and my MR did not know Spanish. Prior to her being placed with her biological father, she had been living with a family that wanted to adopt her. On our outings she would talk about her foster family. It was obvious she missed them. Fortunately the foster family still arranged visits with MR. 

MR is a bright young girl whose smile lights up your heart. After a little over 6 months with her father, she was removed from his care and placed back with her previous foster family.  She has been back with them about 1 1/2 years and on June 2nd her adoption was finalized.  She is one of the lucky ones. 

Her adopted family is amazing. I’ve seen her grow and thrive and become strong with this family. When I first met them, they had family pictures on the wall that included MR when she had lived with them before. It is a large lovely family that I am in awe of. So now I have gone from the title of CASA to friend with MR. She is so bright. I am so fortunate to have had this little girl in my life. I will continue to be a part of her life for as long as she wants me to be. I hope that will be a long time.