Volunteer Spotlight -
Stephanie Judge

The motivation sparking the desire to help others can begin in many ways. For CASA advocate Steph Judge, her intention was to honor her late sister-in-law, Holly Judge, who passed away in 2022 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 49. Holly was a social worker for Montgomery County Children & Youth for over 26 years.  Steph and Holly would often speak about her work with children and how difficult yet rewarding it could be.

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Connecting Steph to CASA for Children of Atlantic, Cape May, and Camden Counties is Holly’s longtime friend Jennifer Valentine. Steph first heard of CASA and the important work being done by her sister-in-law and then later her friend Jenn. Jennifer shared, “I am so happy to have Steph serving as an advocate for children, not only because I believe Steph is an amazing person with a big heart, but also for what motivated her advocacy service to children, Holly. Holly dedicated her life in service to others, her family, friends, community, and the children of Montgomery County and beyond. Holly is proof that one person can truly make a difference in the lives of many. We honor her, by continuing to stand up for children in our community with the same passion and commitment that Holly demonstrated.”

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Steph recalls, “Before Holly passed, I had attended an info session, had my interview, and was accepted to join the next training class. At that time, life was busy and I pushed it off. Fast forward eight months and I got an email from CASA of ACC sharing they had an upcoming training, and would I be interested in joining? Holly had been gone for a couple of months at that point, and as soon as I read that message, something told me it was the right time to do this.” Working full-time and having two young children, Steph wondered how it would fit into her schedule. She thought, “How am I going to fit this in when I have all these other things going on?” She indicates it’s fitting in the best way it can, “I knew I wanted to do this. I was going to figure it out no matter what, so if there are challenges, I know I will figure them out.” For those who might think they don’t have the time or that working with kids in foster care is too hard, Steph assures, “You have to change your mindset, it’s rewarding to be a CASA but really to be someone in a child’s life, someone consistent that the child can look to, you’re making a difference in a child’s life."

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Emphasizing the importance of listening, she feels it’s necessary to slow down, listen, and realize you might have to alter how you do things or how you communicate to meet people where they are as well as being open and flexible to the possibility that you could be wrong about something. Being humble has been helpful… saying this is my first time doing this and I have a lot to learn.

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Acting as a liaison between all of the people in the child’s life, their family, resource family, teachers, doctors, and all the people around them, she speaks to all of those people to bring together the information in preparation of the court report. When asked what element of volunteering she enjoys the most, Steph had this to say, “I enjoy interacting with the child, that’s the big one…..just seeing how they’re doing. The child I’m working with is young and just to see each month when I visit her how different she is, in a good way, she’s growing, talking, and walking! I really enjoy that. But I also enjoy being what I hope is a help or resource to all the people in her life.” Last month at her visit, the child recognized Steph and met her with a smile, which was instantly rewarding.

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