Joan Ulsher, CASA Advocate and Recipient of the Governor’s Volunteer of the Year Award
CASA volunteer Joan Ulsher was recently selected as the 2024 Governor’s Volunteer of the Year Award recipient. Please join Texas CASA in celebrating Joan, who was 1 of only 15 recipients of the Governor’s Volunteer Awards. Joan is a San Antonio-based writer, philanthropist, retired U.S. Army Major and award-winning child advocate. A survivor of abuse with first-hand experience of foster care, Joan serves children and youth in the foster care system as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). Since 2018, Joan has advocated for 24 children as a CASA volunteer and continues taking new cases often. Joan wants every child in foster care to have a CASA volunteer because she knows what it feels like not to have one.
The Governor’s Volunteer Awards “honor the exemplary service of individuals, groups and organizations that have made a significant contribution to Texas communities through service and volunteers.” Here is what First Lady Cecilia Abbott, Honorary Chair of the Governor’s Volunteer Awards, said regarding Joan: “Joan Ulsher transitioned her two decades of military service to dedicated community engagement in Bexar County. Since 2018, she has been a Court Appointed Special Advocate for Child Advocates (CASA) of San Antonio, leveraging her foster care experience to advocate for the best interests of children and teens in conservatorship. Joan, with one of the largest caseloads, logged 681 volunteer hours in 2023, totaling 4,369 hours in under five years. Beyond advocacy, she crafts custom-painted furniture for foster children and leads legislative advocacy, fostering relationships with 14 local legislators since 2020. Joan’s impactful story serves as a call to action to raise awareness about foster care challenges, inspiring CASA recruitment and retention efforts. Her unwavering goal is to ensure every child in foster care has a dedicated CASA advocate.”
When Joan isn’t advocating for children in court or engaging in legislative advocacy, she continues to work towards making the world a beautiful place for children and youth experiencing the foster care system. As a DIY enthusiast, Joan enjoys creating custom-painted themed furniture for children leaving foster care and entering their forever families. Children removed from their homes and placed in foster care often lose everything they once called their own. When these children exit foster care, whether through reunification with a parent, permanency with relatives and kin, adoption or even when aging out successfully into their first independent living environment, Joan wants them to receive a special gift made exclusively for them. So, she started rehabbing old, dilapidated dressers and customizing them to make the children’s dreams come true. You can view some of the dressers she has created here. When Texas CASA CEO, Vicki Spriggs, told Joan how much she loved the dressers, Joan decided to make one for her – a CASA-themed dresser full of love!
A heartfelt congratulations goes out to Joan for receiving the Governor’s Volunteer of the Year Award! On behalf of the Texas CASA staff and Board of Directors, we thank you for the inspiring impact you continue to make in the child welfare space. Your steadfast dedication and passion for this work is obvious – and this prestigious recognition is well-deserved.
