Have You Met...Toni Flowers?

Since 2002, Toni Flowers has advocated for 25 children, traveled more than 12,000 miles and spent over 1,200 hours identifying the needs of children and working to develop resources to have their needs met. All these hours of love and care dedicated to children made Toni Flowers a prime candidate for the Karen Sibley Volunteer of the Year Award.

"As the winner of the 2010 Karen Sibley Volunteer of the Year award, I received a trip to the National CASA convention in Chicago. The convention provides invaluable training to assist advocates in better serving our children. This was a wonderful gift," says Toni who volunteers with Forsyth County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). 

At the Chicago convention, Toni heard from young adults who have aged out of foster care speak about the urgency of helping all children to find permanency. The young adults emphasized the need for kids to have a home they can count on and a family who will miss them if they can’t make it home for Christmas dinner.

Convention speakers also noted the fact that children who age out of the system without a high school diploma are likely to end up in jail, homeless, dead or starting the cycle all over again for the next generation.

As a CASA advocate for children, Toni's efforts focus on the the best interest of abused and neglected children involved with the Juvenile Court system in Forsyth County. As a trained volunteer, Toni helps to provide a creative and economical service in an environment that helps fill the gaps when courts and state foster care systems are stretched to their limit.

"I am constantly amazed and motivated to do more by the members of this community who are dedicated to helping our children; they go way above and beyond to get the job done," says Toni, who also enjoys genealogy and photography in her spare time.

"I also want to say that my work is not all 'serious and grime.' I have fun as a volunteer, meeting kids and working with others," says Toni.

"We had a wonderful time in Chicago, and we had fun hunting down Chicago style hot dogs, which definitely live up to their name!" adds Toni. 

In an imperfect world, at least kids in Forsyth County's foster system can rely on the help of Toni Flowers and volunteers like her who work tirelessly to make the world better a place not just for them, but for all of us.