It’s been 14 years since Pixar gifted us with The Incredibles, an awesome family of superheroes and an action-packed movie. This year they’re bringing the gang back together for Incredibles 2, and it’s opening this Friday!
At CASA, we never encourage our volunteers to be superheroes—it’s not about rushing in to save the day, but instead about the steady, long-term work one can do to improve children’s lives. And it’s often the most subtle and small moments of advocacy that make the biggest difference for kids. But we do love superheroes, so we’re pretty excited about this movie release. As we’re gearing up for our CASA Superhero Run on Sunday, September 16, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate each of the Incredibles family members, and what they have in common with our dedicated CASA volunteers.
Mr. Incredible is known for his super-human strength. Super-human strength is something we see in our CASA volunteers every day. They work through tough challenges for kids to ensure their best interests are always championed. They solve problems that seem impossible, by thinking outside the box and making courageous recommendations to a judge. Mr. Incredible is also known for his super senses, and we appreciate how sensitive CASA volunteers are to the individual needs and experiences of each child they serve.
Elastigirl, with her ability to stretch herself into extreme shapes to save the day and then recover completely, is a perfect example of the resilience of CASA volunteers*. They are often working with really difficult scenarios for kids and families, and they keep going. They know that their own resilience is important to helping children navigate this difficult situation.
*And we have to note that the children we serve are also truly resilient. We’re constantly impressed by what children can overcome, and what trauma they can recover from when given the right opportunities to heal and thrive.
Teenager Violet creates protective force fields to shield herself and her family. Every time a CASA volunteer advocates for something from a trauma-informed perspective (be it therapy, a placement, etc.), they are helping build a web of felt safety, security and healing around children. They are giving them the tools they will need to succeed as adults and overcome past trauma.
Dash, with his super speed, reminds us of how CASA volunteers work to get kids needs met as quickly as possible. Because they’re focused on only one child or sibling group, CASA volunteers can focus in on facilitating communications between different parties, making the phone calls to get answers, and doing the research to find the right resources for the children they serve. They can ensure children don’t fall through the cracks, and work to expedite the things kids need, because of their focus on one family. They also work to ensure that children don’t linger in the foster care system, knowing that getting them into a safe, permanent home and out of the instability of the foster care system is vital to their long-term wellbeing.
And Baby Jack-Jack, with his rapidly evolving set of superpowers, represents the versatility of CASA volunteers and the numerous other ways in which volunteers are helping kids who’ve been through abuse or neglect.
We thank our dedicated CASA volunteers who are displaying these heroic traits every day. If you’re not a CASA volunteer, but you feel like you might share some of these traits and skills, we’d love to see you at an upcoming Volunteer Info Session, or you can learn more on our Volunteer page.
And, we’d like to invite all of you to share your superpowers with kids at the 2018 CASA Superhero Run 5K & Kids 1K on Sunday, September 16 at the IBM Client Innovation Center!
July CASA Superhero Run 2018
