THE April ADVOCATE OF THE MONTH IS:
Lena Sonnier
April has been a month showered with blessings at CASA, and among those blessings is our April Advocate of the Month, Lena Sonnier. Lena became an advocate in August 2024 and is assigned to her first case. There is one precious bundle of joy in her case, and Lena will readily tell you that she considers herself lucky to visit such a sweet little boy every month.
Consistency is one of the hallmarks of an exceptional advocate, and it certainly describes Lena. Our children and families experience a plethora of changes over the course of a CPS case. Caseworkers, attorneys, judges, and sometimes even caregivers change for a variety of reasons. Often, change is unavoidable, but it is always difficult. Thanks to CASA volunteers, children and families can experience consistency and stability during a chaotic time in their lives. Showing up month after month, in big and small ways, positively impacts a case in immeasurable ways.
Excellence is another trademark of an exceptional advocate and thus describes the April Advocate of the Month. Lena displays excellence by entering documentation in a timely manner, communicating regularly with the caregiver, offering knowledgeable and heartfelt testimony in court, and submitting top notch court reports. When an advocate, such as Lena, exhibits excellence in advocacy, she gains credibility and trust from the parties involved in the case.
A third quality of an exceptional advocate is compassion. Lena offers compassion to those she interacts with by listening to their needs, remaining unbiased, and offering help. She is willing to give parents the benefit of the doubt and remains open to the possibility of reunification. She makes caregivers comfortable with her presence in their lives and homes. She genuinely wants what is best, not only for her assigned child, but for the parents as well. When the father in her case was going to meet his son for the first time, she gathered appropriate items that could be kept at his house in anticipation of the baby going home in the future. Lena said, “Maybe having these things at his house will give Dad hope that his son will be returned to him.”
Advocates like Lena are not only Difference Makers; they are agents of hope. For this, we salute her and say, “Thank you!”