Construction on Jasper County CASA center over halfway complete

Aug. 24—Six months after ground was broken, the new headquarters for Jasper County Court Appointed Special Advocates is quickly taking shape with the drywall now installed and the playground to be installed in the fall.

The future Jasper County CASA Training and Connection Center, located at 1825 Carolyn Place off 20th Street in Joplin, will allow advocates and children to meet regularly and build relationships in a safe, stable setting.

It will be the organization's first home to call its own and will give volunteers more room than is available at its current location at the Joplin Advanced Training and Technology Center on Grand Avenue.

Jasper County Court Appointed Special Advocates was established locally in 2018 to represent abused and neglected foster care children in the 29th Judicial Circuit.

The nonprofit uses trained volunteers who are appointed by circuit court judges to advocate for children who have experienced abuse or neglect, many of whom are in foster care. Every night in Jasper County, 450 to 500 local children are in foster care.

Parker Grant, project manager with Mid-Land Enterprises, said construction will be nearly 70% complete by next week with the finish on track for early 2023. The playground equipment is expected to arrive in October and will provide slides, swings and sensory equipment.

"Outside, there will be a wonderful playground," said Debi Koelkebeck, executive director of Jasper County CASA. "We'll have age-appropriate slides. We have a group of advocates who are retired teacher and elementary administrators, so we really went for that elementary age group. We wanted to focus on activities that advocates can do with their kids. We'll have a basketball goal and musical instruments."

"Our masons will be done by Aug. 30, and the exterior facade should be 95% done probably in mid-September," Grant said. "The drywall will be finished and painted in about a week. It looks good, and it's starting to come together."

Board members and staff with Jasper County CASA took their first walk-through of the new center Tuesday.

Chelsi Scott, program manager, said she wanted to jump up and down after seeing the interior. Currently, staff members share office space with one another, and there are no windows. In the new building, staff members will have their own offices and volunteers will have a large training room.

"I'm trying not to get too excited," Scott said. "In the offices, we'll be able to meet with volunteers, work on court reports and talk strategy with more privacy. It can be tricky in a shared space to have those good, in-depth conversations."

The construction project was made possible after the nonprofit reached its $1 million campaign goal last year with support from the community, businesses and in-kind donations. Ground was broken in February.

Once completed, the 4,500-square-foot center will feature a full kitchen, a teen lounge, meeting spaces, offices, a training room for volunteers, a washer and dryer, as well as a playroom and learning areas. Both the storage room and the playroom will double as storm shelters.

Koelkebeck said their new permanent home will provide limitless opportunities for advocates to bond with their children and also give the kids a secure environment.

"Really, the whole design was for kids to feel welcome," she said. "Whether it's a budgeting class for older kids, a finger painting class for little kids or playing one-on-one, I know this area will be used tremendously. We're currently serving approximately 200 children, and we have 94 active volunteers. We can always use more volunteers."

Ideally, the goal is to have 200 trained volunteers by 2024. With its first established location, officials said they're looking forward to collaborating with area organizations with similar missions and having more visibility in the community.

"We set a goal that we wanted an advocate paired with every child, and we couldn't do that with the current space that we're in," said Andy Perigo, former board president of Jasper County CASA. "Before we started this, not very many people knew what CASA was, but now, our reach has grown."

Jennifer Reeves, a founding board member, said it's amazing to see the building come to fruition after years of planning. She has been with the organization since its inception and said that Tuesday's walk-through was welcome.

"It's great to see everybody's hard work finally paying off," she said. "The community has really come together and have been so supportive of this. Words can't describe how I feel about this building. We had some of our first meetings at the Lafayette House and the SMB community rooms. When we landed in the JATTC building, it's been a blessing, but we have outgrown it. I think this will be huge, and I know our advocates are excited to have a space to meet with the kids. I think it will also be a great recruiting tool."