SCAN's Snapshots of Hope
Rita
Community member who received CASA advocacy as a child
Part of the SCAN family since 1998
As long as she can remember, Rita moved from house to house as her mother’s addiction to drugs left Rita with little supervision or stability. They stayed with different family members until they overstayed their welcome and moved on. As a 10-year old, she came and went as she pleased, fended for herself for meals and clothes, and used her own survival instincts to face the world.
One Christmas Eve, Rita was still in elementary school when her mom came home and told Rita she had just received a check from the City. She asked Rita what she wanted for Christmas. Rita doesn’t even remember what she asked for... She just remembers that her mom never came home, and she didn’t see her mom again until a court hearing much later. Instead, eventually, the City social worker came and placed her in foster care.
That first foster home was a whole new world to Rita — with three home-cooked meals a day, curfews, her own bed to sleep in, bedtimes, and nurturing attention. Her foster mom taught her to speak “correctly” and to drop the curse words that were so much a part of her former vocabulary. The structure was difficult to adapt to at first, but Rita remembers realizing that home and family could mean something so different from her earliest experiences.
Within those first few weeks, Rita also met Susan, the CASA volunteer appointed to learn about Rita’s situation, her priorities and needs; and to advocate for her as decisions were made about her future. “I didn’t talk much to Susan at first,” Rita remembers. “I really didn’t talk much to anyone in those days.” But Susan learned that food brought out Rita’s voice. Rita smiles now as she remembers, “Susan always said food made me talk.” Over pizza and fries, Rita came to trust Susan as someone who would stand up for her, and she began to talk more. She remembers long hours in Susan’s truck as she poured out her frustrations and dreams.
Every day in this country, judges decide the futures of thousands of abused and neglected children in a system that is often too understaffed to focus adequately on the needs of each child. Without help, these children are at high risk for homelessness, unemployment, incarceration, and drug and alcohol abuse as adults. SCAN’s Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program recruits and trains special community volunteers, like Susan, who then serve as a powerful voice for abused and neglected children, one child at a time. CASAs make sure each child’s best interests are considered by the Courts and service providers and advocate for safe, permanent homes for every child.
Susan gave a voice to a shy, withdrawn Rita. She spoke up in Court and in the community as decisions were made about Rita’s placements and future. Before long though, the foster mother’s sister took ill, and the woman told Social Services she could no longer care for Rita because she had to attend to her sister. The feelings of abandonment... of wondering what she herself had done wrong to deserve to be forgotten again... came back and flooded Rita’s thoughts as they would time and again through the coming years and a series of foster homes, a group home, and relative placements that never seemed to last long enough.
“Susan was always there. She was the one person who was consistent in my life. My world was full of drugs and pregnancies. Susan showed me a tunnel out of that world. There was light and opportunity and possibility that I could see as I looked down the tunnel Susan showed me. Without her in my life, I would never have believed I could make a life for myself that I’d be proud of.”
Rita remembers Susan standing up for her in court and saying, “How can you let Rita stay in this situation!” She remembers how the delays and bureaucratic obstacles made Susan angry, but she also learned how to manage such frustrations by watching how Susan stood up for her, spoke for her, made connections for her, and stood by her over the years.
Over the last 20 years, more than 2,200 children have been given a voice through the advocacy of SCAN’s CASA volunteers. Last year SCAN supported 80 CASA volunteers in bringing hope to more than 180 children living in the City of Alexandria and Arlington County. These volunteers dedicated 8,306 hours last year to improving the lives of our community’s most vulnerable children.
Rita’s resilience and determination enabled her to graduate from college, a first in her family. Though no longer her “CASA volunteer,” Susan was there at Rita’s graduation. “Rita changed my life just as much, if not more, than she says that I have influenced her life,” Susan recalls. “I am so very proud of the young woman she has become. I love that girl and feel very blessed to have been a part of her life. The reward I get for the hours spent as a CASA volunteer with Rita is seeing that beautiful smile each and every time I see her! I went in as a volunteer to help others and came out feeling as if I had helped myself, I thank CASA for that opportunity.......and for the opportunity to know and be inspired by Rita.”
Today, Rita has a job ensuring that adults with disabilities have the supports and services they need to live in the community. And she’s considering becoming a police officer. She wants to give back, she says, because people like Susan gave her hope and continuity in the midst of the chaos that her life often seemed to be. “I’m so grateful for programs like SCAN’s CASA Program,” she says. “I want to encourage someone else the way I received encouragement.”
Rita is a shining example of the hope that can be built by the committed volunteers and dedicated staff members at SCAN of Northern Virginia. Today she is a poised, eloquent young woman, whose face breaks into a beautiful smile when she remembers her talks with Susan so many years ago. By investing time and demonstrating a commitment to children in our community today, volunteers like Susan are contributing to youth who will become productive adults that give back themselves tomorrow. Rather than repeating the cycles of the past, these youth, like Rita, inspire us all as they draw strength from the adversities they’ve survived and draw hope from the people who cared about them.