ATTEND a ProKids INFORMATIONAL "Snapshot"
- Attend our one-hour informational session to find out how you can help
- date: Thursday, 2/28
time: 9-10 am
date: Thursday, 3/6
time: 12-1 pm
date: Wednesday, 3/12
time: 4-5 pm
date: Thursday, 3/18
time: 9-10 am
date: Wednesday, 4/2
time: 12-1 pm
date: Wednesday, 4/9
time: 4-5 pm
date: Thursday, 3/18
time: 9-10 am
date: Tuesday, 4/15
time: 9-10 am
date: Thursday, 4/24
time: 12-1 pm
- Email Glenna Miller to attend. Or call 281.2000 x 201.
- Held at ProKids:
2320 Kemper Lane
Cincinnati, OH 45206
The Children
These are some of the children ProKids CASA volunteers have served:
Synamon
6-year-old Synamon didn’t grow up surrounded by a loving family, she grew up among violent gang members. While most children were learning their ABCs, Synamon was dragged along on drug deals with her mother. She was a neglected and bewildered little girl.
When Children’s Services became involved, Synamon was removed from her home and placed with an aunt in Northern Kentucky. At this point, a ProKids CASA named Peg was assigned to the case. She could see right away that this lost little child was begging for some stability in her young life.
Synamon suffered from mental and emotional disorders that required extensive treatment. Peg convinced the aunt to move to Hamilton County so she could receive financial assistance to pay for therapy and treatment. Then she helped the aunt resolve issues standing in the way of the move.
Because Synamon had never been to school, Peg worked hard to get her on track academically. She brought books and read aloud. She advocated for Synamon to attend a school where she could work at her academic level, not age level.
Today Synamon is just like any 7-year-old you might know. She’s catching up in school and making friends. She’s feeling safe and loved in her new home.
Jenni
In a few months, 18-year-old Jenni will “age out” of the system. She’ll leave her paid-for apartment, her weekly stipend, and her caseworkers. Jenni’s mother is often homeless, and usually out of a job. Unlike most adults going out into the world, Jenni will have no one to catch her if she falls.
The odds are stacked against foster children who turn 18 without having a family. Many will experience homelessness. Many won’t be able to hold down a job. Most will struggle financially.
Luckily for Jenni, she has something most kids who age out don’t have: a ProKids CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate). Darlene is helping ensure that Jenni will beat the odds. In two weeks, Jenni graduates from high school. Darlene was instrumental in solving a transportation problem to help Jenni stay in school.
Darlene helped Jenni find a job and enroll in college. She’s also helping Jenni find an apartment, secure transportation, get her driver’s license, apply for financial aid, locate a computer for college, and all the other things a teen moving out can usually turn to a parent for help with.
Thanks to her ProKids CASA, Jenni stands an excellent chance of leaving “the system” for good. Perhaps her children will never enter it.
Tony
Life for Tony, age 9, was filled with uncertainty. With a mother in and out of jail, Tony never knew which relative or friend he’d be living with next. He never knew what it was like to be loved. When Children’s Services was called, Tony was moved to a foster home. Life didn’t magically improve for little Tony, though.
Tony was emotionally and mentally scarred from his upbringing. A shy, gentle boy who loved to read and often wrote poetry, Tony now required psychiatric hospitalization. He was unable to bond with others and placed in behavior-modified classes. Caseworkers and teachers hoped for the best for young Tony, but they didn’t hope for much.
When Tony was assigned a ProKids CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) named Celina, he met the first and only consistent adult in his 9 years. Celina believed the one anchor Tony could have to normalcy was education. When he was 15, Celina felt Tony could handle a regular classroom. The school balked. Celina didn’t back down and, eventually, convinced the school and his workers to let him try.
Tony excelled. First quarter he got 4 A’s and 2 B’s. Then he got all A’s. He was awarded the Achievement of Excellence for outstanding academic achievement. Today Tony knows he’s smart. He knows he can do whatever he puts his mind to. Celina knew this all along.