Kirsten Ferries is a nurturer through and through. She worked as a special needs teacher early in her career, and then went to business school and worked in fundraising for nonprofits after that. In addition to having a family of her own, she has been teaching meditation and restorative yoga for the past ten years, and also volunteers with Women’s Empowerment in Sacramento.
Frustrated by current political events, Kirsten found herself wanting to do even more for her community last fall. She had heard about Sacramento County CASA through a good friend of hers who is a CASA volunteer there. Kirsten missed working directly with kids and wanted to volunteer in her home county. She recently went through the training and was paired with a four-year-old girl.
Kirsten has enjoyed giving her CASA child experiences she hadn’t had before, “When she was placed locally, we went to story time every week at the library. She was shy at first and then one week she burst out into song and dance. It was so great to see her open up that way and come out of her shell. She loves puzzles and books and is just fascinated with the library. I want to give her as many early preschool experiences as I can because she starts kindergarten next year.”
Kirsten has enjoyed her role in court as well. “Judge Basha was always great about truly listening to the CASA volunteers and incorporating our recommendations into his decisions. Having met with my CASA child once a week, with our visits focused solely on getting to know her and gain a deep understanding of her needs, I’ve gotten to know her beyond what a lawyer or social worker with a large caseload can do. There are only so many hours in a day for them.”
To those considering becoming a CASA, Kirsten is highly encouraging. “It can be intimidating at first going through the training and wondering if you will succeed, but all you are doing is building a relationship with someone who needs a solid adult relationship in their life. It’s a great way to use the skills you’ve learned as a parent or relative of a child and have fun. You will come to find that the time commitment comes naturally—I look forward to it every week.”
