For the fourth year in a row, the Edmonds Bookshop and Rotary Club of Edmonds are joining hands with the Snohomish County CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocate) program to provide books to children in foster care, their parents and their court-appointed advocates.

The book donation is an ongoing part of the Rotary Club of Edmonds’ literacy program and follows up on successful partnerships in 2021, 2022 and 2023 to similarly distribute books to this same population.

But this year they have a new partner to help boost this effort: Whole Earth Montessori of Bothell.

“We were looking for a way to leverage our existing book drive program to help as many kids as possible,” explained Whole Earth Montessori School Head Nidhi Oberdi. “When the CASA program turned up in our research, it looked like a perfect fit for us. We contacted them, talked about what we could do to help, and everything just felt right.

“Parents of our students donate books selected from our preapproved list, and the school matches each donation with another book, which we purchase through Scholastic Books,” she continued. “This is a natural for me too – I’ve always loved reading, and what better way to spread the joy!”

This year, the Edmonds Rotary Club and Edmonds Bookshop provided more than 200 books. With the addition of 150 more from Whole Earth Montessori, CASA will have more than 350 additional titles to distribute through its volunteer advocates — going to the at-risk kids it serves.

CASA volunteers serve as court-appointed special advocates for children who have landed in the state’s foster system, many of whom are victims or alleged victims of sexual abuse, physical abuse or neglect.

It is important to note that this work does not mean that the advocate becomes the parent the child never had. Volunteer advocates are careful to maintain boundaries while sticking to their role of gathering evidence, getting to know the child, talking with the biological parents, teachers, coaches, physicians, etc. and presenting their findings to the judge along with recommendations. This might be to return the child home to the parents, to keep the child in foster care and, if so, suggest what might need to be done to remove barriers to the child returning home.

CASA volunteer Emily Fountain, a former public defender who lives in Edmonds where her children attend Edmonds public schools, was on hand again this year to receive the books and relate her experiences working with the program.

As a CASA volunteer advocate, she regularly meets with kids in their homes, where she reads with them, gets to know them, checks on their welfare, and makes regular reports back to the court about how they are doing.  These reports are the primary source of information used by the courts in making decisions for the children’s welfare.

“I’m a lawyer and took several years off to have two kids of my own,” she explained. “While I’m not ready to go back to full-time practice yet, I was looking for a way to combine my legal experience with my passion to advocate for kids. This program is a perfect fit for me, allowing me to use my legal, writing and investigatory skills to help the most vulnerable children in our community. I feel very fortunate to have found it.”

Another CASA volunteer, retired Mary Kay National Sales Director Lily Orellana, echoes Fountain’s love of the job.

“I love children and I love being able to help,” she said. “Right now I’m handling three cases at a time [volunteers can handle up to five cases simultaneously], which involves going into their homes, spending quality time with the children and their caregivers, and reporting back to the court. I strongly believe it is more blessed to give than receive, and working with CASA allows me to live this.”

CASA is always looking for new volunteer case workers. More information is available on the CASA website here.

— Story and photos by Larry Vogel