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DENTON — CASA of Caroline has announced the appointment of Kathleen Dormody as its new Executive Director.
CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate. CASA advocates for the best interests of abused and neglected children who have found themselves in the Caroline County court system. The goal of CASA is to ensure those children have a dependable voice during legal proceedings by coordinating and training volunteer advocates. As Executive Director, Dormody hopes to protect as many children as possible and spread awareness about CASA’s mission.
“I actually started out my career in education, and so I’ve always had a passion for children, in addition to older adults,” Dormody said, “But I have had personal experience with trauma myself, and it’s always been something that I’ve been passionate about advocating for.”
Prior to joining CASA of Caroline, Dormody worked with Partners In Care Inc., an organization focused largely on supporting the aging population. Through that work, she said she became more aware of the broader needs facing the Eastern Shore community. “I’ve always been a one for the underdog kind of person,” Dormody said, “so I think it’s a match.”
Though she has lived on the Eastern Shore for only two years, Dormody said that the small-town atmosphere immediately felt like home. She was raised in a small town in upstate New York, graduating in a class of just 48 students, and said that experience continues to shape who she is. “When I left, I felt like, ‘Oh, you’re supposed to go out into the big, bad world,’” she said, “I moved around a few times in my life, but every time, eventually there was a sign that was like, ‘You’re not supposed to be here’... I realized I’m always going to be a small-town girl, and that’s okay.”
Dormody said the opportunity to lead CASA of Caroline came at just the right moment. “It was sort of placed in front of me, and I thought, you know, I think it might be time to pursue this,” she said. The position is also personally fulfilling, as Dormody’s husband, who recently passed away, was himself a survivor of childhood trauma. “About a month and a half before he passed, he realized finally that his life, his story, could help other people,” Dormody said. “It’s something that keeps me connected with him, and the opportunity to sort of honor him in a way as well.”
In her new role, Dormody aims to build on the relationships she has already begun forming in Caroline County while expanding public understanding of CASA’s work. “Being able to fill a passion, and really help save as many children as I can and expand the awareness and the involvement that people have in the organization — I think it’s a very important cause,” she said.
While her previous work focused largely on senior citizens, her motivation is simply to “make a difference”, and leading CASA of Caroline, “affords me the opportunity to do just that.”
