About Us
IT IS VITAL FOR EVERY CHILD TO HAVE A VOICE.
Today, there are more than 50,000 advocates serving in 948 state and local program offices nationwide. CASA programs across the country are known by several different names, including Guardian ad Litem, Child Advocates, and Voices for Children. Since the inception of CASA advocacy, volunteers have helped well over 1,000,000 children find safe, permanent homes in which they can thrive.
MEET OUR BOARD.
Alan LeVar
Chair
Arkadelphia
Katelyn Kirkham
Delight
Tamara Horn
Glenwood
Don Kelly
Vice Chair
Arkadelphia
Anna Howard
Murfreesboro
Madeline Bennington
Arkadelphia
David Griscom
Treasurer
Arkadelphia
Greg Vardaman
Arkadelphia
Alvin Johnson
Arkadelphia
Meet the Staff
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi
Celeste Davis has been with CASA since 2017, first as a Volunteer Advocate and then as an Advocate Supervisor for Pulaski County CASA. Prior to finding her passion for working with children and families, Celeste worked as a paralegal and has over 20 years of legal experience. She is a trained facilitator for various parenting curricula, including Managing Youth Trauma Effectively, Circle of Security, Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up, and Active Parenting. When she is not advocating for children and families, Celeste enjoys spending time with her family and friends, hiking, and boating on Lake Ouachita.
Celeste Davis
Executive Director
Connie Mitchell
Volunteer Coordinator
Connie Mitchell grew up in Mineral Springs, Arkansas. She attended college at SAU in Magnolia. She spent 33 years teaching and coaching, mainly in the Texas school system. In addition to her work as the CASA Volunteer Coordinator for Pike County, Connie works with Dawson Cooperative providing developmental therapy services to preschoolers. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, including her granddaughters Luna and Iris. Connie also enjoys nature, lake activities, and sports and is an animal lover.
OUR HISTORY.
Our foster children in Clark County are going through one of the toughest experiences they will ever face. The experience is often more difficult because the children miss out on normal, healthy, childhood experiences due to lack of funding.
Our Story
CASA of Clark & Pike Counties began as CASA of Clark County, Inc. in November 1999. A group of passionate community leaders in Clark County sought to give a voice to local children who had suffered abuse and neglect and were now entering the chaotic world of foster care. Throughout the last two decades, our organization has worked on behalf of hundreds of children to ensure that each one has a safe, permanent home. In 2015, our program grew to encompass Pike County, Arkansas and we became CASA of Clark and Pike Counties.
CASA of Clark and Pike Counties developed the “Bill and Betty” fund in 2005 to answer this need. The fund was named after Bill and Betty Gentry, two of the people who were instrumental in getting CASA started in Clark and Pike Counties.
Through this fund we have been able to provide our foster children: tickets to the Arkadelphia Aquatic Park, costumes for school plays, clothing, shoes, weeks at Family Farm, and many other things. All of these are SO important to our children, they want to be able to do the things that are “normal” to other children their age.
Our vision is to provide quality volunteer advocacy in court for every child placed in foster care due to abuse and neglect. We believe a major part of this advocacy is to strive for a more normal life for the foster children we serve. We are now rising to the occasion to meet the needs of all of OUR children here in Clark and Pike Counties!!
By your gift of a donation to CASA ofClark and Pike Counties, you are also giving to this fund.