Friday, August 28, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of the Highland Rim – Stewart County, officially took possession of the 1225 Spring Street location and announced the building will be named, “The Brigham Center for Children, Youth and Families.”
CASA is a nonprofit organization that trains and appoints volunteer advocates to provide support for and report to the court on behalf of children and youth who have experienced abuse and neglect. The Standard first reported on them in 2018. We reported, this is a non-profit volunteer organization designed to help children from infancy until 18 years of age. Once a petition is made to Department of Children’s Services (DCS), CASA can then get involved with the case. The purpose is to give children a healthy and safe environment in permanent homes. This program works alongside Juvenile Court. Similar to Baby Court, CASA provides children with more chances of finding a permanent home. They started taking cases in December of that year and unfortunately it has grown.
Misty Wyatt, local Volunteer and Development Coordinator for CASA said at the announcement, “We are rural and we have our own context and a lot of times when families are going through a hardship, they hit a bump in the road, they need services and we don’t have a lot of services available in our community to help them get over a bump in the road.” Wyatt said some of the services needed are supervised therapeutic visitation during a CPS (Child Protective Service) or divorce case and parenting classes. “We are trying to help facilitate that, we need those things here, we need them here to address the people here in our community. Our hope is this facility will service our families to provide stability which will affect generations,” Wyatt remarked. She also hopes this facility could be a resource to family members, such as grandparents, who may be raising children.
Wyatt also mentioned the building was the former home of, “Cheatham’s TV,” for many years. She recognized the late Jeanetta Cheatham, a local educator who served on the foster care review board for more than 20 years. “She was doing something special and unique in our community long before CASA was here. The large gathering room will be the, ‘Jeanetta Cheatham Gathering Room,’ and we are going to honor her legacy in our community by making sure she is recognized for her spirit and heart for children.”…