Help local children through volunteer opportunity

Foster care is a lifesaver for many children. It provides the familial environment and emotional stability they need. Voices for Children/CASA is seeking volunteers for its Fostering Futures program, designed to provide support for children who are aging out of the system.

The executive director, Linda Nash, told the Southeast Missourian's Lindsay Jones, "Our whole idea is to allow the youth to successfully transition out of foster care to adulthood."

"Successfully transition" is the all-important phrase. Such good is accomplished through the generosity of families that open their doors to children in need that it's always sad when those children get caught up in "poverty, homelessness, criminal activity and low educational attainment." A successful transition will allow them to finish what they've started -- moving forward into a world of possibilities.

The volunteers will work closely with children in Cape Girardeau, Perry and Bollinger counties, mentoring them as they tackle the process of securing driver's licenses and applying for college. This is in addition to the usual advocacy work volunteers do. They will also guide them through identifying and achieving goals.

Those interested in volunteering need not be intimidated by the program's intensity. Training will be administered at the end of May and mid-summer. Contact Voices for Children/CASA at (573) 335-1726.

A program such as this is just what these young people need. While it is wonderful when children are taken in at young ages, it is important that they are nurtured and receive support as they get older. This new program seems poised to provide stepping stones from one phase to another, which will increase the potential that these children will grow into productive adults who will give back to a society that has given so much to them.