Success is commonly defined as “the degree or measure” of something turning out well. Throughout the month we are exploring the theme of success and examining what it looks like from various unique perspectives at Henrico CASA.
Kristin Blalock, Henrico CASA’s Director of Partnerships, shares how her view of success is rooted in community collaboration.
Path To Henrico CASA
Before joining Henrico CASA, Kristin’s work explored various professional paths including cooperate consulting and small business ownership. It was her personal journey that ultimately led her to CASA.
Kristin is a mother of four children, two of whom joined her family through adoption after facing incredibly tough circumstances.
“The things they experienced, similar to the things we see endured by so many CASA children, break your heart,” Kristin says. “Working with CASA reminds me that children truly are resilient – especially when they are connected to at least one positive, encouraging adult.”
Creating Space for Collaboration
This understanding fuels Kristin’s approach to advocacy and leadership. A key part of Kristin’s leadership is her ability to create space for collaboration. At Henrico CASA, partnerships are essential in educating the public about child abuse and neglect in our community.
“By incorporating partners into our work, we are growing the base of people talking about the issue and how CASA is a big part of the solution”, Kristin shares. “That creates a ripple effect- where all of a sudden our community knows about the issue, is confident in CASA’s ability to address the issue, and most importantly, is ready to get involved.”
Moving Forward, Together
Knowing that childhood trauma can be difficult to talk about, Kristin sees a strength of Henrico CASA as promoting positive messages, making those conversations a little easier to approach. By focusing on hope and resilience, CASA helps the community shift into action.
“Recognizing that child maltreatment is happening all around us, bringing that issue to light, that is the first step to engaging people in wanting to make a difference,” Kristin says. “But we won’t stop there – we want to grow our efforts in education and prevention. I would love to be out of a job because there are no longer child abuse victims in need of advocates.”
