STAFF

Terry Patterson joined CASA as the Administrative Assistant after 18 years of staying home and raising her children. Terry resides in Dayton and is enjoying the small town life again. She has two grown children and two grandchildren, and is a member of Crosby Church. Terry has always had a special place in her heart for children. She spent many hours volunteering at her children’s schools and was a member of the P.T.O board of directors. After raising her children, Terry attended Lee College and received an Associate’s Degree in Health Information.After eight months of enjoying learning about CASA as the Administrative Assistant and helping facilitate the office running efficiently, Terry was promoted to Advocate Coordinator. Terry is excited to be able to be more involved in helping not only the children, but also to work with the parents to see if she could help to reunite them with their children.

Karen began as an advocate with CASA for two years, where she found another passion in the Collaborative Family Engagement program, and began working with Kathy Dagle in this arena. She has now taken on the roll of being an Advocate Coordinator for CASA. Karen worked for many years in the Public School System, five years with the Head Start Early Childhood Program, and has been heavily involved in ministry for over 25 years. She has been a children’s pastor, youth pastor and with women’s ministry. Currently, she is a teacher and a member of the Board of Directors for House of Destiny, a non-profit substance abuse recovery program for women. She is the founder of Breath of Life Ministries, a ministry for women and families, and works closely with Heart of a Woman Ministries Intl.  Karen is also pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Biblical Counseling with Westcoast Bible College and Seminary. “My passion and desire to work with children and families was wrapped up in one beautiful package when I found CASA”. Karen and her husband Kenneth reside in Saratoga,Texas, and together have 5 children, 11 grandchildren and counting, All of which are their pride and joy.

Cori Davila is an Advocate Coordinator who also coordinates our Fostering Futures program. She began as a fierce volunteer Advocate and was heavily involved with Fostering Futures the minute she signed on as a volunteer. We are so excited to have Cori’s passion and experience boosting our Fostering Futures program and are excited for her vision for Fostering Futures. Cori has always been lead to work with children. She started working as an early childhood learning teacher as soon as she graduated from high school, while studying for a degree in Social Work. After graduating from Lee College she worked as a certified Pre-k teacher and tutored the 4^th through 8th grades, after school while attending University of Houston, Clear Lake. Cori began working as a tutor for low-income high school students under the No Child Left Behind Act, before joining the CASA Family in 2015. She is happily married to her high school sweetheart and considers all the kids she works with as part of her family.

Karen was an outstanding fierce Advocate for three years before joining the CASA Team. She previously worked in an Elementary school for 12 years, then went into retail, becoming a manager for Sears for nine years. Karen was born in Houston, Texas. Her father was in the insurance industry, and the family moved to Puerto Rico for four years, then Alabama for seven years before moving back to Texas. Karen has a very supportive husband, three great children, and two wonderful grandchildren. She loves spending time with her grandchildren and family, and enjoys being outside, working in the yard or sitting on a beach. Karen states, “I have always wanted to do some form of social work and then I heard about the CASA program. I knew right then that this was what I wanted to do. I have been a volunteer for about three years. When the opportunity to work for CASA and become and Advocate Coordinator was offered to me, I was so excited.”

Monica became an advocate in February of 2018. The more she found out about CASA the more she wanted to move forward and be more involved. July of 2018 Monica got the chance of a life time and now is an Advocate Coordinator. Monica says she absolutely love her job and the people she works with. Children are our future, children are amazing little people whom deserve a chance. Before CASA, Monica worked for the school district back home Nixon/Smiley for 5 years, then  wanted more so she became a CNA/Office Coordinator for a home health company for about 4 years. Monica has lived in Dayton for about 4 years. Monica has 3 boys, 1 step son, 1 step daughter, 1 grandson and 4 granddaughters.  She has been with her amazing husband, Benjy, for about 8 years and married 5 of those 8. He is our rock. He supports her in all she does.

Traci joined CASA of Liberty & Chambers Counties team in 2019.