Living life with passion and purpose has been accomplished for me by volunteering with Fulton County CASA in Atlanta, Georgia.  I have been a CASA for 11 years, and I have met phenomenal children who have charged me to hear their cries and make a better future for them.  Being a CASA lets me share love as well as receive love.  During the fact-finding process, you learn that families are struggling and hurting, and this pain is often times taken out emotionally and physically against their children.  Although the foster care system was designed to provide temporary care for children, we know that many children grow up in foster care.  In spite of this sad situation, I continue to meet children whose strength and determination cause them to rise above the sadness.  I see teenagers who are empowered and know how to turn despair in to triumph.  I see families whose brokeness is healed through love and patience for one another.  And as for me, I am a better person for having answered the call of our children in foster care.