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 PIERCE COUNTY |
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Mary Bartley has been a Child Advocate since 2010. Mary holds a BS in human services from Empire State College and an MBA from Canisius College. During her working life, Mary had multiple careers, including social worker, director of volunteer services, and financial advisor. Following retirement, she and her husband moved from Buffalo, NY to Tacoma, where they are enjoying the mild weather, beautiful views and proximity to their children and grandchildren. In addition to her Child Advocate work, Mary spends her time knitting, traveling, gardening, and reading.
Jenny Kenyon-Gentry has been a Child Advocate since 2008 - 7 years in King County and then in Pierce County. She has a Master of Jurisprudence in Children's Law and Policy from Loyola University Chicago. Jenny works at Casey Family Programs, the largest U.S. foundation dedicated to improving foster care. Her role there is to liaison with other nation organizations with related missions. Jenny's favorite part of her job is supporting alumni of foster care, birth parents, relative caregivers and resource/foster parents to share their experience in and ideas to improve the child welfare system with policy makers. Jenny enjoys spending her free time sailing with her husband and dogs.
[Biography available soon]
[Biography available soon] MEMBERS AT LARGE
Kim Seevers began her career in 1993-2004 in Pierce County District Court Clerk as a filing clerk and later, a judge's assistant. In 2004, Kim left the court to sell real estate and work as an outreach minister advocating for families in Pierce County facing food insecurities, insufficient housing, domestic violence, homelessness, poverty, mental health illness, and those families challenged with caring for elderly or disabled family members. In 2020, Kim was sworn in as a Volunteer Child Advocate with Pierce County and in 2021 was hired as a full time Pierce County Guardian ad Litem. In 2022, Kim took on the additional role of a Pierce County Guardian ad Litem/Advocate Supervisor.Kim is an active member of the Catholic Women's Club of Pierce County, enjoys reading, gardening, traveling, and spending time with her husband of 22 years, grandson, three grown daughters and sons-in-law that live in the area.
Kathy Bertram served as president of Kid Connect Pierce during 2020-2021. She had retired in 2010 after 11 years as an Administrative Assistant in the Pierce County Juvenile Court CASA/GAL Dependency Program. Prior to that she spent 22 years as an Administrative Assistant and Information Services Specialist at the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. She and her husband share four children, nine grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. She enjoys reading, working out at the Y, gardening, having her grandkids over for visits and traveling with her husband.
Christal Davis: "I started with Pierce County Juvenile Court in 1996 as a volunteer in the Diversion program. I went on to work as an extra hire detention officer in 1997, working evenings and weekends, until I was hired full time in 1998. In 1999, I was hired as a probation officer and worked with juvenile offenders. In 2006, I became a Guardian ad Litem in the Dependency Unit. Encouraged and motivated by the work in Dependency, I decided to become a foster parent in 2008. I have had over 50 children in my home. To avoid conflicts, I only accept cases outside of Pierce County. In 2017, I became Advocate Supervisor, mentoring and supervising child advocates. When not busy with work or the responsibilities of being a foster parent, I enjoy reading, spending time with family, photography, cooking, woodworking and being creative."
Clarissa Fletcher: Clarissa was born and raised in Michigan, moving to Tacoma in 1990 after being assigned to Ft. Lewis. After leaving the military, she started her educational journey. She completed the Therapeutic Recreation program there because she thought she wanted to work with the older population. Clarissa was invited by a friend to volunteer at the court on Sundays and she hasen't left since. Clarissa has been employed with Juvenile Court for more than 26 years. She has been a detention officer and probation counselor; her current role is as the community and volunteer services coordinator. Clarissa absolutely loves seeing youth and families WIN! That can be as small as a child re-enrolling in school or a family reuniting. She loves this community and is happy to serve in any capacity. Clarissa believes in the mission of KID Connect and the work we do to support youth impacted by the child welfare system. Sarah Yamamoto: Sarah Yamamoto has been a Child Advocate since 2020. She grew up in the South Sound and has a great fondness for Pierce County. She works as a grant writer for MultiCare, supporting their mission of partnering for healing and a healthy future. This role includes fundraising for Mary Bridge Children's and the Children's Advocacy Center of Pierce County, which serves child abuse victims/survivors and their families and engages in child abuse prevention work. Sarah enjoys classical music and dog portrait photography. She is invested in helping raise our community's kids on an individual level as well as politically and systemically.
Patsy Tyvand: Before becoming a Child Advocate in 2021, Patsy Tyvand was a certified mediator, dealing with neighbor and employment disputes, parenting plans, Pierce County district court settlement conferences, and hundreds of small claims court cases.
Mission: To support the Pierce County Child Advocate program and the children it serves by developing programs and events designed to recruit and retain CAAs and enhance the lives of the children. SECURE DONATIONS == === == === == === == === == To donate by mail, please make check out to "Kid Connect" and mail to: If you have any questions, please use the Contact form GET INVOLVED! Volunteer!
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