I would describe myself as a passionate and fierce child advocate, fulfilling my purpose-filled life of serving abused and neglected children as a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate or CASA. My “lived experiences” and complicated past paved the way for me to become a child advocate. The journey was not easy, and through sharing my “misplaced childhood” story, I seek to empower youth with a past like mine to find resiliency and discover their voice. I also seek to inspire all people with a heart for hurting children trapped in the child welfare system we call--foster care--to answer my call to action and join the ranks of the volunteer CASA/GAL movement nationwide. Kids are the future of our community, and they are in crisis now.