A Mother's Day CASA Spotlight
For Antoinette Taylor, the moment she realized an 8-year-old girl in foster care actually trusted her was when the child began to call her to talk about her life.
For Antoinette’s son, Allen Holmes, that moment came when the 17-year-old he was advocating for began to discuss his interest in poetry.
This mother-son team of CASA of St. Louis volunteers shares a strong commitment to helping others. Antoinette’s career has involved years of working with adults with development disabilities. The mother of a 27-year-old son and a 25-year-old daughter and grandmother of two had always encouraged her children to help others, and reaching out to children in need has been a special passion since her days as a parent liaison to children in the Saint Louis Public School system. A friend told Antoinette about CASA, and in 2018, she completed her training.
“At my CASA graduation, I was telling my family about the importance of CASA in the lives of children who need an advocate, and Allen expressed an interest in the program,” Antoinette recalled. “I urged him to consider volunteering because CASA needs more men to serve as role models for the boys in the program.”
Allen joined CASA in 2019 to serve as an advocate for a then 16-year-old. “We had a lot of phone conversations and along the way he would reach out to me and discuss his life and the literature he liked,” Allen said. “I had been a mentor to young people during college, and recently asked my very supportive CASA supervisor for another CASA case because I found the experience of advocating for this young person very rewarding.”
Allen’s Case Advocacy Supervisor Angela Jackson has been struck by Allen’s deep compassion. “Allen is always ready to help a child in need,” she added, saying he has been a great advocate to the teen he was assigned and, at the youth’s request, has shared his military experiences.
Angela joined CASA in 2018 after earning a bachelor’s degree in Family Services and a master’s degree in Public Administration. She spent two years as a case worker with the State of Missouri, Division of Family Services before taking on her role at CASA, which involves supporting 30 CASA volunteers.
CASA is also not the first outreach role for Allen, who was active in an auxiliary organization that supports the development of social, emotional, and educational needs of youth who need positive role models in the communities in which they live. Called Collegiate 100, this group extends the 100 Black Men of America's mission on college and university campuses across America.
Today, the graduate of Tennessee State University is a contracting specialist for the Army Corps of Engineers and a Quartermaster Officer for the Army National Guard. Last year, he was deployed to help administer 15,000 COVID-19 tests in 20 counties. Now the father of a newborn son, Allen has still made time to advocate for the teenager who is now 18 and living with his father.
“My mother paved the way for me on how to treat other people,” Allen says. “She has always been committed to helping others and has moved past all obstacles to succeed in life—she’s definitely a soldier!”
Moving past obstacles, Antoinette has had equal success in building trust with an 8-year-old living with a foster parent. The child’s younger brother recently was reunited with his father. Antoinette said that after having phone contact throughout the pandemic, the young girl wanted to meet with her personally so Antoinette set up curbside, socially distant sessions with her.
“We managed to get treatment for this young girl and by listening closely and paying attention to everything going on in her life, I think I have been able to advocate effectively for her,” Antoinette added.
Antoinette credits Senior Case Advocacy Supervisor, CaSSandra Grinston with offering great guidance and support through the entire process of reunifying the younger brother with his father and continued advocacy for his sister.
CaSSandra holds a master’s degree in Human Resources Development and has been with CASA of St. Louis for more than three years. She came to CASA with 17 years’ experience working for the State of Missouri, Division of Family Services. CaSSandra started with the state in St. Louis City as a case manager and worked in many capacities there. Like Angela, CaSSandra supports more than 20 volunteers and is an advocate for multiple children in the court system.
“Antoinette is very attuned to the needs of children and concerned about her case,” CaSSandra said. “She realizes the children we advocate for go through so much and we have to be certain we have a complete understanding of the factors behind their behavior. Antoinette has told me often that she understands we have to make sure we know everything that is going on with a child. She really works to get the full picture and takes her CASA volunteer role very seriously.”
Antoinette is now the grandmother of a one-month-old boy she may be recruiting in a couple of decades for CASA!