Trina Breuner McMorrow arrived in Yolo County about 20 years ago due to a job transfer. She and her then young family chose Davis as their new home town. At the time, Trina worked as a healthcare attorney, and earlier in life, as a nurse. Trina liked her ability to help people in each of these positions, but scaled back after several years to spend more time with her children.
Trina has worked with a number of local nonprofits since moving here, but as her children grew and she had more time, she hoped to make a bigger impact. She saw an article in the Davis Enterprise recruiting applicants for CASA volunteers. Trina says, “My best friend’s mother was a CASA volunteer when I was growing up, so I guess it was always in the back of my mind. Also, my brother adopted two children out of foster care, so I’ve seen what a difference involvement can make. Drawing on my careers, including that as a mom, it seemed like a great way to help children in need.”
Trina has now been a CASA volunteer for 3.5 years. Her first CASA youth was a teenage girl. She has several great memories of their visits together, including ice skating, horseback riding, going to a Sac Republic game, but mainly just talking. When her CASA child turned 18, Trina wanted to continue to help, but decided to do so on a broader level, “Tracy (Yolo County CASA’s executive director) asked me if I would consider becoming a volunteer advocate supervisor. She said they wanted to pilot a program to see if having a volunteer advocate supervisor could extend Yolo County CASA’s resources. I thought it sounded like a really effective way to help even more children at once.”
Advocate supervisors are normally full-time, paid positions for CASA organizations. They advise up to 40 CASA volunteers on how to write their court reports, they give CASA volunteers ideas of what to do on visits with their CASA children, and act as general resources when issues come up. A few CASA organizations throughout the country are currently pilot testing the feasibility of having volunteer advocate supervisors.
Executive Director Tracy Fauver states, “To continue to grow toward our goal of providing every foster child with a CASA volunteer, we need to make our resources go further. Trina is an incredible volunteer with a big heart. She currently serves ten CASA volunteers and their foster children in her volunteer role.”
Trina states, “I enjoy being involved in a number of cases at once, giving guidance to the amazing volunteers to help these vulnerable children, and being part of the CASA team.”
To anyone considering becoming a CASA, Trina states, “Please
join us. Foster children need your help. If you have a caring heart, and the desire to help a child in need navigate through a very hard time, we can teach you the rest.”
