Advocating for children is rewarding to Patti Wolfe

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By Diana Blowers, Contributing Writer 9:59 AM Thursday, November 5, 2009

For Patti Wolfe, her job as a monitor at the Greene County Family Visitation Center in Xenia is “one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.”

The 1968 Fairborn High School graduate, the former Patti Hamilton, graduated from Miami Jacobs College and spent 30 years working at several area educational institutions before retiring in 2000.

“After I retired, I volunteered in many different areas,” she said, noting that it was as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) that she learned of the work at the visitation center.

“I spent nine years advocating for children who were abused, neglected or considered dependent. I loved being a CASA — it was so rewarding knowing that you were helping children going through a crisis in their lives by being their voice in a courtroom,” she said.

In 2006, she accepted a job as a monitor at the visitation center, which eventually meant the end of her CASA work.

“Unfortunately for me, most of the children that needed CASAs ended up in supervised visitation at the visitation center. Because of conflict of interest, I decided to resign as a CASA in April 2009.”

However, the satisfaction she’s felt at the center is similar to that she received as a CASA.

“Helping children feel safe, guiding them so they have a good visit with their parents, gives me a great feeling that I have helped a child feel happy and secure that day,” she said.

The center provides a safe, secure and homelike environment where children and their parents, affected by abuse/neglect, divorce and/or separation, can come together to rebuild their family relationships through supervised visitation and neutral exchange services.

Wolfe also does some case management for the center, following up on requests from parents, handling conflicts between parents and providing orientations to all parties before scheduling visitations.

She also volunteers as a “surrogate parent, making sure children in foster care were getting the best educational services possible.”

“I attend all IEP (individual education program) meetings, advocating for these children. I travel over a six-county region helping children with disabilities get the best educational services possible,” she said.

She also has volunteered for six years for Fairborn FISH food pantry.

“The most rewarding part of my life is my family. I try to spend as much time as possible with them,” she said of her husband of 40 years, Eric, and their children Brian Wolfe and Kelli Cook and their 3-year-old granddaughter, Kyleigh Cook.

For more information on the Greene County Family Visitation Center, visit www.co.greene.oh.us/fcf/VC/default.htm.

Contact this columnist at dsb@donet.com.

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