Family & Youth Forum
E-Newsletter from Family & Youth    Lake Charles, LA

February
2  0  0  7

 What's Inside

Front Page

Market Your Mission

A Powerful Voice

A Team Approach

Building Social Connections

Experience a Change

Our Business is Taking Care of Yours

The Back Page

Mission
It is the belief of Family & Youth that all individuals possess the ability to solve their own challenges and live full healthy lives when support is available. It is the mission of Family & Youth to provide affordable and professional support through programs and services dedicated to advocacy, counseling, and education for the people of Southwest Louisiana. Our effort and commitment to building family values will guarantee a stable and stronger community.

Past Issues

February 2007

September 2006

May 2006

A Powerful Voice
by David Duplechian, Associate Executive Director

If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is there to hear, does it make a sound? While the answer to this timeless question is up for debate, one thing is certain - sound or not, because no one hears it, it has no effect. If we truly want to be an effective, powerful voice for a child in court, that voice has to be heard.

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) are volunteers who are appointed by Family and Juvenile Court Judges to advocate for the best interests of children who have been removed from abusive homes.

Whether advocating for the best interest of an abused and neglected child, or advocating for policy changes at local, state, and national levels, CASA is effective because A Powerful Voice for Children is heard. Without our dedicated volunteers, who through hard work and dedication provide the voice, without our judges in Allen, Jefferson Davis, and Calcasieu Parish, who provide an ear for the voice to be heard, and without the supporters of Family & Youth, who through their donations of time, talent, and treasure, ensure that the voice is powerful, we would simply be a tree falling in the woods, with no one there to hear, not having any effect in the lives of the abused and neglected children we are called to serve. On their behalf, thanks for volunteering, thanks for donating, thanks for listening.