Kalei Edenfield
A couple months ago, Kalei Edenfield started as a Volunteer Coordinator for the Athens Court Appointed Special Advocates/Guardian Ad Litem program.
She graduated with a B.A. in Sociology-PreLaw with a minor in Political Science from the College of Arts & Sciences at Ohio University in 2016.
Court Appointed Special Advocates
Edenfield recruits, trains, and supervises community volunteers to be Court Appointed Special Advocates.
Together they and the rest of the Athens CASA/GAL team represent the best interests of a child who has been determined by juvenile court to have experienced abuse, neglect or dependency and provide an objective assessment and recommendation to the court.
Beginning a career in this field gives Edenfield the opportunity to pursue her passion of being a child advocate.
“I feel beyond blessed to work at the Athens CASA/GAL program in the courthouse,” Edenfield says.
“Everyday I come to work and am in awe of my coworkers and volunteers and the great work they are doing to provide the least traumatizing experience to a child that has already been through so much.”
Challenge, Opportunity, Connections
She says the biggest challenge in the transition from college to workforce was accepting the fact that sometimes in order to gain experience and knowledge to follow her dreams in the long-term career she wanted, she had to recognize the real value of stepping stones along the way.
So Edenfield looked for jobs that would provide her with that experience to lay the foundation for the jobs to come, landing a position at Health Recovery Services as a prevention specialist for a while.
While she was in college she felt that she had a huge support system from professors, mentors, and friends that helped guide her to the decisions that led her to where she is.
She says that thanks to the College of Arts & Sciences she was able to do an internship at the Athens Country Child Advocacy Center her senior year. That internship experience pushed her and enabled her to build significantly on her preexisting strengths.
In addition, because of the internship Edenfield made connections with co-workers and others, as well as strengthening her connections with professors. These connections and relationships helped to set her on her path.
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