Meet Melanie
“So many kids have a better outlook and hope in life because you show that you really do care for us.”
Julie is a Court-Appointed Special Advocate, or CASA, at CARE House. She works with kids in foster care. These children often have to move from house to house, and to meet with a variety of unfamiliar judges, lawyers, and counselors. Julie is there to be the consistent adult figure in their lives, the person they can always reach out to for help and support.
Julie met Melanie when she was 11. Melanie’s mom was a drug addict, and her father was in prison. Melanie had just been removed from her first foster home in Genesee County, and placed in a new one in Hazel Park. Eventually, Melanie’s dad got out of prison, and she moved back in with him. She was excited, at first, but he started abusing drugs, and she had to go back into foster care.
Melanie is 17 now, and still in foster care. Throughout it all, Julie was there for her, helping to connect her with extracurricular programs at school, and making sure her needs weren’t neglected. Julie asked Melanie to write something about the CASA program at CARE House, and here’s what she had to say:
“You guys help so many children and familys [sic]. The care and support you provide helps kids grow strong and believe in hope and a better path for life. So many kids have a better outlook and hope in life because you show that you really do care for us. You show us that love, care, happyness [sic] and a better path for life is possible. Everyone that I have met at Care House is sweet and caring. Please don’t stop what you guys are doing! It’s so wonderful and we will take what we learned from CARE House and teach our own kids.
Care House makes the world for kids and familys [sic] a better place.
Thank you,”
