After Nearly 14 Years, Lexington CASA Volunteer Has Advocated for Countless Children in Need
CASA volunteer Cynthia Phillips
Cynthia Phillips never heard of CASA volunteers until it seemed like someone was standing up the president of her restaurant company for an important meeting.
Phillips had flown with her president to Indiana to meet with managers of some restaurants the company had just acquired. One of the managers was late.
“I thought that was pretty bold to be late for a meeting with the president of the company that had just acquired you,” she said.
But when the manager arrived, he explained he had been in court, advocating for the best interests of abused and neglected children.
That caught Phillips’ attention. When she got back to Lexington, she looked into the local Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program and signed up to become a volunteer herself.
“I found out the company I worked for was a big supporter of CASA, which I hadn’t known,” she said. “So they were very supportive of my work.”
More than 13 years later, Phillips is now retired from her job, but she has continued to serve as a CASA volunteer. She is one of CASA of Lexington’s longest-serving volunteers and has advocated for countless children. And this month, she has also been named one of the nonprofit’s Volunteers of the Month.
“In each case she takes, she is objective, taking each family as she finds them and looking to identify and build strength and stability,” said Dennis Stutsman, Phillips’ Volunteer Manager. “She has empathetically worked cases involving poverty, neglect, physically excessive discipline, cultural issues, educational neglect, and parental neglect and abuse due to mental illness and substance misuse.”
Stutsman said even on cases where parents are making no progress and it’s clear it will be impossible to reunify the family, “Cynthia finds a way to communicate empathetically and to encourage them toward making decisions in their children’s best interest.”
“She truly represents what is best about CASA as an advocate for children, but also understanding that children’s best interests are intertwined with the humanity of imperfect parents.”