Today’s post, contributed by CASA Volunteer Vincent Parlegreco, is part of an ongoing series in honor of 2021 National Volunteer Week.

For most of my career I had been so busy that there wasn’t time to volunteer, but now that I’m semi-retired I’m finally able to dedicate some of my time to worthy causes. I’ve always believed that it is important to give back to our communities, so I volunteer for several organizations.

One of those is Seeds4Success (S4S) in Annapolis, where I tutor and mentor two 5th graders. While attending a training on child abuse for S4S, I was encouraged to become a CASA. I had originally learned about CASA through an online list of organizations. The idea of helping a child in foster care, to advocate for them and ensure their well being, was something I wanted to do because I was blessed to have the support and love of a good family.

My CASA training was completed in the Spring of 2020 and I believe I was in the first class to complete the fully virtual online CASA training. I received my first CASA case in December 2020 and am currently still assigned to my first CASA case of two brothers. The younger one is 11 years old and the older one just turned 13 years old.

Being a CASA for the past four months has been an eye-opening experience.  It’s shown me that there are wonderful foster parents that care and open their hearts and homes to kids in the system. It’s shown me that the system is really there to ensure that children are protected and cared for, but like any complex system, the foster care system can be frustrating to navigate.

I’ve realized that we have many smart wonderful children that find themselves in difficult situations where they need help and support. I’ve really gained a respect for everyone involved from the judge or magistrate, to the attorneys, therapists, foster parents, case workers and CASA supervisors.

Organizations like CASA are always looking for caring dedicated volunteers. It seems that oftentimes men are less represented in volunteering. This is disappointing, because so often boys in the foster care system have no male role models in their lives. I’d like to encourage everyone, especially men to step up and volunteer!

Learn more about how you can become a CASA volunteer and get involved with Anne Arundel County CASA.