‘It warms my heart': CASA Quilters create blankets for neglected and abused children

For some, retirement is about sitting back and relaxing. For the CASA Quilters, retirement is about giving back.

"This is a quilt that I just finished quilting and I'm binding the edge," Joyce Gregory said as she worked on a western-themed quilt. "It's probably the most rewarding volunteering that I've ever had."

Gregory is one of the founding members of CASA Quilters. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates, a group that supports and promotes court-appointed advocates for abused or neglected children.

"I got a couple of friends that wanted to help out and we just got started doing it," Gregory said. Most of the CASA Quilters are retirement age. "Mature," Gregory said laughing. "Some of us, beyond mature!"

CASA Quilters started 13 years ago. Every first and third Thursday, women of different denominations and faiths meet at the First United Methodist Church in Duncanville to quilt and crochet quilts and blankets to donate to Dallas CASA, which advocates for foster children who have been neglected or abused.

"For 13 years these ladies have been coming, bringing us quilts, and for 13 years they really have brought hope and light into thousands, literally thousands of foster kids," Dallas CASA Director of Public Policy Chad Frymire said. "Sometimes it's really the only tangible thing that they have, so it's a sense of pride, it's a sense of hope, and they travel through foster care with these."

"We can't all adopt, we can't all foster, but we can do this. This is our little part of their world," CASA Quilter Barbara Cadman said. "My kids said, you can't die until there's no fabric left in the house, so I'm never dying!"

This month the CASA Quilters surpassed a milestone, making 5,032 quilts and blankets to date.

"It warms my heart to know that I'm helping a child," CASA Quilter Ruth Lloyd said. "Anything that can comfort them is very important."

Dallas CASA shares some of the quilts with the North Texas Coalition Against Human Trafficking, the Dallas Police Department and foster care group homes.