A love of children and a lifelong interest in law enforcement have led Laura Lorenzo to become a court-appointed special advocate. She volunteers to work with attorneys to advocate for the best interests of child victims of neglect and abuse. She also meets regularly with the children to offer support, friendship and guidance during the court process.

When children are placed outside the home, she facilitates meetings between siblings who are separated.

“This is a learning process for me,” she said. “It’s great to see brothers and sisters play together. I understand what resilience means. They have been through so much and can still have fun. I appreciate the children being children. This is very fulfilling.”

In one case, a 4-year-old boy didn’t speak much and was unsocialized; he had rarely been out into the community. “I took him to a local grocery store, and he was amazed to see so many fruits and vegetables for the first time,” she said. When he heard music on her car radio while they were driving to a park, “It brought back memories of his mother that were positive. It grounds you — the kids still love their parents even though they have been badly treated.”

Lorenzo’s fluency in Spanish is a great asset. She also volunteers as a translator for Growing Your Children, a program to prevent child abuse and neglect.

“I enjoy working with her. She is very dedicated,” Pam Pullen with Voices for Children CASA said. “She is good at relationship building; she gets along well with everyone. She finds time even though she has a young child at home, and works full time as a case manager with Community Justice Services of Longmont.”

For information about volunteering with Voices for Children or other agencies, call the Volunteer Connection at 303-444-4904, or go to our Volunteer Central.