Club Business
President Dick O’Donnell presided. Rick Moore led the prayer and pledge of allegiance to our flag. Dick introduced two guests, Edna Parker, Kristi Farrell, and our speaker, Valerie Chaffin. Savannah Bernston, president of the Western H.S. Interact Club, was also with us. Today is Rick Moore’s annivesary. Yesterday was John Beshel’s birthday. Today is Groundhog Day. The local one saw his shadow. He mentioned the upcoming blood drive on February 12 . Here is the link – https://donor.oneblood.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/1055780 Brooke said first responders at the hospital are being overworked. Katie Boone said our club can help sponsor meals through Burlington Beer Works, if we are willing to contribute. Richard will share more about this at our board meeting next week. He said Mike Brown is willing to donate some rooms in the Mebane hotel he manages.
Anderson Rathbun gave us an update on the Burlington baseball team, which has been rebranded to the Burlington Sock Puppets . He said the response has been mostly favorable. The team will produce some documentaries to explain the wacky name. The idea is to get people talking about the team. He said they want to be different and fun, a more energetic form of baseball. OT Sports will produce all sports apparel locally. Only hats will go through MLB. A second mascot will be added in a month or two. Bingo will remain. People will vote on a name.
Member Spotlight
Mike Brown shared that his dad was a manager at Sears in the catalog department. He was a small town real estate guy. Mike learned to take care of the rentals. His family also did cattle farming. Together they built the Affordable Suites in Graham. His dad was a silent partner. In 2001 they built the Acorn Inn in Elon. In 2005 the put up the Acorn Residence Inn. He has three awesome children. His daughter is 21. He has a 15-year-old son, and an 8 year-old daughter. The Graham property was sold to allow building the Acorn Inn in Mebane. He said God has been good. Mike said he loves partnering with the Burlington Sock Puppets. The Acorn Inn mascot is a giant squirrel.
Program: Valerie Chaffin: Guardian Ad Litem Program for Alamance County
Mary Thomas introduced our speaker, Valerie Chaffin, who is the district administrator for GAL. Chaffin grew up in Fayetteville and earned her degree in education from East Carolina University. She imagined she would spend her career in the classroom, but after a few years in eastern North Carolina school districts, she grew weary of frozen salaries and no clear path ahead. She returned to Fayetteville to take care of family business and enrolled in a community college course in paralegal work. She enjoyed the work and completed her certificate in 1983.
She worked as a paralegal until 2006. Working for the Hunton & Williams law firm in Raleigh, she was encouraged to volunteer with the guardian program. She found it more fulfilling than she could have imagined.
“I’ve never known anyone to come away from the program not having their lives changed,” Chaffin said. “You get more than you give, and you are giving something that’s necessary.”
As the Alamance County director and one of three paid GAL staff here, she is a sounding board for volunteers and a program coordinator. She sometimes misses the one-on-one with children, but she enjoys problem solving with the volunteers. Chaffin hopes to involve the community and businesses more with the program and children in its care.
Child abuse and neglect is alive and well in our community, unfortunately. The guardian ad litem program focuses on putting abused children into the best possible family situation going forward. The DSS investigates to determine the nature of the alleged abuse. If there is abuse, DSS takes custody of the children or places them with relatives. They also file a petition with the courts. The GAL program gives the children a voice in what happens next. A volunteer talks to the children and investigates to prepare to speak to the court regarding what the child wants going forward. In 2020 only 12% of the cases result in a termination of parental rights. Most go back with parents. Of those 12%, twelve percent are rehabilitated and regain parental rights. The goal is a good permanent solution.
Volunteers receive over thirty hours of training online. Homework is assigned. That work is discussed. The whole thing takes about six weeks. If a volunteer is still interested after training and learning the horrors associated with working with these children, they are put to work in this is difficult but extremely rewarding enterprise.
The state GAL program actually began successfully in Alamance County. It brought together the compassion of a volunteer combined with the expertise of a lawyer. More volunteers are needed. Cases are coming in daily. The next training class starts February 15. VolunteerforGAL.org is the site you can use to apply. Valerie asked our club to let others know about this opportunity to serve. A two-person staff manages the volunteers in Alamance County. There are about three children per volunteer at the present. Valerie said that initially volunteers put in three to four hours per week and afterward for up to a year at around two hours per week. She said the biggest risk for volunteers is getting attached to those with whom you work.
Conclusion
Dick closed the meeting by leading us in reciting the Four Way Test.