Dallas, June 25, 2019—Dallas CASA’s Parade of Playhouses will run July 12 to 28 at NorthPark Center. Presented by Crest Cadillac / Crest INFINITI / Crest Volvo, the signature awareness event for Dallas CASA will feature 17 unique, custom-designed children’s playhouses on display and available to win by raffle.

Dallas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) recruits, trains and supervises community volunteers who serve as the voices in court for abused and neglected children living in protective care. In 2018, Dallas CASA’s 1,420 sworn advocates served 3,332 children. Amidst an overwhelmed child welfare system, a CASA volunteer is often the only constant and consistent adult by a child’s side during a frightening and confusing time.

The houses, all custom-designed and built, are donated by local builders, architects and corporations and available to win by raffle on the last day of the 17-day event. All funds raised during the event benefit the children served by Dallas CASA.

“Child abuse isn’t something that happens somewhere else to someone else’s children,” LaValle said. “It happens every day in our city to our children, and our incredible volunteers stand up day after day for children. Our volunteers are in foster homes, doctor’s offices and courtrooms making sure children have the best chance to reach their full potentials. These 17 adorable houses represent what our volunteers dream of for the children they serve – safety, permanency, warmth and a place to call their forever home.”

KDC, a leading national real estate development and investment company, is serving as parade grand marshal this year, bringing new ideas and builders to the 24^th annual event.

“Building big is what we do, but these little playhouses and the hopes they represent really captured our hearts and imaginations,” said Steve Van Amburgh, chief executive officer of KDC. “Values are the heart and soul of any great organization. KDC really admires what Dallas CASA is doing to help families and kids here in our city. This is why we’re jumping in to help raise awareness and funds for Dallas CASA. We’re excited to be a small part.”

Last year, more than 4,700 Dallas County children were living in the protective care of the state. Dallas CASA has been working diligently to expand capacity to meet the growing demand for child advocates in our community. Dallas CASA volunteers are assigned to all 10 Dallas courts that hear child welfare cases. Dallas CASA currently provides a trained advocate for nearly nine out of ten children in foster care. In the past five years, Dallas CASA has doubled the number of sworn child advocates, focusing on a goal of serving every child who needs an advocate.

Parade of Playhouses has been a signature community and fundraising event for Dallas CASA since 1996. This year’s collection of 17 houses includes a tiny food truck, a lunar landing module, an inclusive autism awareness house, and many others. Each house is unique and represents months of donated work designing, planning, building, finishing and transporting to NorthPark Center.

The playhouses will be awarded to lucky winners during a raffle drawing at 4 p.m. on Sunday July 28 at NorthPark Center. Raffle tickets are $5 each or five for $20 and may be purchased at event ticket tables at NorthPark Center or online at dallascasa.org.

Parade of Playhouses would not be possible without the support of our generous sponsors and builders:

Presenting Sponsor

Crest Cadillac / Crest INFINITI / Crest

Volvo

Grand Marshal

KDC

Castle

Pioneer Natural Resources

Estate

Varidesk

Mansion

Design Within Reach

Kappa Alpha Theta Dallas

Alumnae Chapter

Villa

Bank of America Black Professional Group

Bernbaum Magadini

Dallas Child

People Newspapers

Summit Funding

Whataburger

Playhouse Architects and Builders

Adolfson & Peterson Construction
Alliance Architects
Architecture Demarest
AST Manufacturing
Austin Commercial, LP
Baker Triangle
Balfour Beatty
The Beck Group
Butscher Construction
Coats Homes
Corgan
Crest Cadillac / Crest INFINITI / Crest
Volvo
Factory Blue
Gensler
HKS
Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.
Jeff and Jordan Kindig
LRO Residential
MacArthur High School
O’Brien Architects
Omniplan
Ridgemont Commercial Construction
Rogers O’Brien Construction
Sendero Consulting
Skyline High School
Sleepy Hollow Homes
TDIndustries, Inc.
University of Oklahoma College of Architecture

About Dallas CASA

All children have the right to be safe. Dallas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) recruits, trains and supervises community volunteers to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children. For many of these children, their CASA volunteer is the only consistent, caring adult during a frightening, uncertain time. In 2018, Dallas CASA’s 1,420 volunteers advocated for 3,332 Dallas children. But at the end of the year, one out of five Dallas county children in foster care did not have a volunteer advocate. To learn more about advocating for abused children, call 214-827-8961 or visit dallascasa.org.