Meet Sharon Gustafson: Advocate Coordinator

Sharon Gustafson, Advocate Coordinator

Sharon Gustafson, one of our Newton County Advocate Coordinators, started with Alcovy CASA as a volunteer in 2009 and was asked to join the staff in 2012. We asked her to share a little bit about herself and her CASA journey.

What led you to begin volunteering with CASA?

Although my childhood brought some difficulties and unusual circumstances that specifically drew me to children in foster care, I have been incredibly blessed in my life and upon moving to Walton County I began looking for a way to give back to my community.  Children are our most valuable members of society and the most vulnerable of these children are those in foster care. As soon as I heard about CASA I knew that was where I wanted to invest my time.

What motivates you, personally, to work for CASA?

I want to make a difference in people's lives, whether it is the life of a child or of a CASA Volunteer. A question I often ponder at the end of the day is "Did I love well today?"

What is one of the highlights of your CASA experience?

While I was still a Volunteer, I was the CASA to a teen girl who had very few permanency options available to her.  Although I faithfully traveled to see her each month, it often seemed like she viewed me as just another person in her long list of people that she had to see each month, and I wondered if what I did was making a difference.  After 3 years of being her Volunteer I came on CASA staff and had to step off her case. Several years later, I heard that she was having her last hearing in JV Court before she aged out of foster care, and knew I wanted to attend the hearing and wish her well.  I arrived before she did, and was in the hallway of the courthouse talking with others on the case when she came around the corner with her transporter.  As soon as she saw me, she stopped and shouted, “Ms. Sharon, I didn’t know you were going to be here!”. She took off running down the hallway toward me and gave me a big hug.  That made all those long miles and all those hours of traveling, talking to people, writing court reports, and everything else that a CASA Volunteer does, worth every minute!

If you could share one message with our volunteers, what would it be? 

There may be times when you will feel powerless to make the changes you wish could happen for your CASA children, or you may wonder if you are making a difference. You have and you are!  Often, it is in the times when we least recognize or know it, that we are making the greatest impact in a child’s life. Never give up. Go out and love well.