Yvonne Tsao sat in the audience at the 2023 CASA OC Celebration Gala and listened to stories about the impact CASA volunteers have had on the lives of children in the foster care system. Yvonne was attending the event as a guest of her friends from the Sun Family Foundation, who were receiving an award for being CASA’s Outstanding Foundation that evening. She left the event feeling so deeply inspired that she wanted to learn more about the organization and how she could help.
Yvonne and her family have a long history of philanthropy through their Tsao Family Foundation which was started by the parents of Yvonne’s husband. The foundation serves the community with a focus on at-risk families, women and children. Yvonne said, “My own personal passion is children’s mental health so when I was introduced to CASA, it felt very fitting. I immediately started looking into how to get more involved.” To learn more about CASA, Yvonne was invited to attend a court observation tour which she found very moving and immediately signed up to go through the CASA training.
She had mixed feelings about becoming an advocate since she had two young children and she and her husband were hoping to expand their family with another baby. Yvonne said, “After learning how many kids were on the waitlist, I realized I could carve out the time to do it. However, I knew I was planning to get pregnant and didn’t want to go on maternity leave after being matched with a child. My supervisor, Emily Gorman, found a great fit for me with a family maintenance case that was for only six months.
Yvonne describes her shorter term case, “Family maintenance cases usually involve a youth who’s been reunified with their family of origin or with another guardian where permanency is the plan. The court monitors the family for six months to make sure the parent or guardian is complying with everything they’re supposed to do.” Yvonne’s youth, 7-year old *Artie was on track to be reunified with his dad and was supported by additional loving family members.
During their time together, Yvonne would visit with Artie every other week and take him out to do things that no one else had time to do with him. Together they visited the Discovery Science Center, watched movies, took trips to Target, and visited museums and the Aquarium. Since this was her first case, Yvonne relied on the guidance of Emily, her Advocate Supervisor, for things like help in securing funding for extracurricular activities that would benefit Artie.
As the mom of two young children, ages 6 and 8, with a third on the way, Yvonne believes it’s important to have her children participate in experiences that teach them about helping others, so she tries to involve them in age appropriate activities to facilitate that learning. She said, “The CASA Pinwheel Project at Fashion Island felt like such a good fit for our family. We invited other families to join us and, while it was hard for the kids to grasp that each pinwheel represented a child in foster care, it was a really powerful hands-on experience.” She adds, “We brought screwdrivers and the kids took turns poking holes and lining the pinwheels up by color pattern. There’s no better way for children to learn than to actually have them experience an event like this. We hope to continue supporting this event going forward.”
As her case with Artie wraps up and she’s entering the final weeks of her pregnancy, Yvonne will take some time away from being an advocate. She reflects back on her time as a CASA and says, “At first being a new advocate seemed so daunting, but in reality the organization really supports the advocate with supervision and ongoing continuing education opportunities. Emily made me feel like I wouldn’t be on my own and she was always available to help me.”
Emily shared, “Although Yvonne's time with Artie was brief, she made an unforgettable impact on both him and his family. Her unwavering support and dedication during a challenging period provided much-needed comfort and stability. She stepped in as a true advocate for the family, championing their needs and ensuring that Artie felt seen, heard and valued.”
Yvonne says she’s grateful for the many ways she can continue to support CASA once her new baby arrives. She will continue to attend the luncheons and galas and will look for other opportunities to direct her discretionary donations through her family foundation. She said, “I’m not sure when I can resume being an advocate but I will look to help in other ways. My time with CASA has been very rewarding and puts perspective on things. It’s also allowed me to see things through a different lens and how traumatizing it can be for a child to be removed from his or her family.” She adds, “I was so glad the resolution was so clear in the case of my youth. Artie had a loving family and returned home to a good support system.”
If you would like to learn more about the many ways to support CASA as an advocate, a donor or by attending a community event like the Pinwheel Project please email us or sign up for an Information Session.
*Name changed to preserve privacy