Diana Avina is a Family Service Practitioner with the CasaKids Organization in Roswell, New Mexico. The mission of CasaKids is to provide powerful voices and support for abused, neglected, and vulnerable children and their families.
Who They Serve
Children and youth who are abused, neglected, or at high risk.
Families and caregivers (including foster and kinship caregivers).
Youth transitioning from foster care.
Residents of Chaves County (Roswell area).
Why It’s Valuable
Offers a holistic suite of supports (advocacy, visitation, caregiver support, youth‐programs) which is relatively rare in more rural counties.
Local presence (Roswell) means easier access for families in this region of New Mexico.
Provides volunteer opportunities — for those interested in supporting children through advocacy and related services.
CasaKids realizes that money management and financial literacy is an important part of helping families become stable. Last May, a staff member of CasaKids facilitated a Mini Money & ME Program. Less than a month later, they asked me to come do a Train the Trainer for several of their staff members. That is where I had the opportunity to meet Diana. In a follow up with Diana, she shared that she felt the information on “How to budget” was the most helpful. She said she is able to practice it with her clients and help them look at what they are spending daily, weekly, and monthly. She said she loved the part about how to make your own soap and the various recipes for making your own cleaning products. She didn’t realize that the food stamp program, now called SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), was actually income. One of the things Diana was able to do for herself, was set up a budget so she could afford braces for herself. She realized that she could personally make small changes that would have big results. She is now more cautious of the money she has and has put the money into various savings accounts for her future. Look at her beautiful smile!
Sara Money, Director & Developer of the Money & ME Program.
Would you like to earn a FREE Money & ME Workbook & Kit? Write and share a story about your Money & ME program! You can focus on how you structure your program, a participant success story, the perspective from the trainer….your choice. Please share how Money & Me is helping people gain control over their money and their lives.
