Volunteer Spotlight

Ann Lederer

CASA Volunteer since 2006

I was born in a quiet suburb of Los Angeles near the beach and the Santa Monica mountains. I grew up with my Irish Catholic lifelong Democrat mother, my Russian Jewish mostly Republican father and my seven brothers and sisters (five boys, three girls). I remain very close with my siblings and their children, who are scattered across the United States.

When I was seventeen and fresh out of high school, I moved to Astoria, sight unseen, on the recommendation of a friend who grew up here. I lived here for about 18 months in the early 70’s, a wild time in our now relatively genteel town! Many years later, my husband and I visited on vacation and I fell in love with the area all over again. We bought our 100-year old house in 2001 and after a period of going back and forth between Los Angeles and Astoria, I retired from my job as a corporate lawyer and we moved here permanently in 2007. The big draws were the natural beauty, the quieter way of life and the community that we quickly got to know.

My husband Scott Reuter and I have one daughter, Eilise. She and her husband moved to Eugene from Indiana, right around the same time that we moved to Astoria full-time. Eventually, she decided to leave her corporate job and become a brewer. She went to school for brewing and had a great summer in Astoria interning at Fort George. When she decided to open a brewery, she and her husband realized Indiana (where they both went to college) was a more open market, and so they returned to Indianapolis to open Scarlet Lane Brewing. They are determined to return to Oregon to live someday. Fun fact – Eilise’s college sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, has been a committed supporter of CASA programs nationally for many years. I guess CASA is in our blood.

 While practicing law in Los Angeles, I was involved in children’s rights issues through pro bono work with the Alliance for Children’s Rights, Public Counsel and other organizations. I wanted to be a CASA at that time, but it just wasn’t feasible with my work schedule. I completed the CASA training in Clatsop County before I moved here, anticipating my retirement and imagining having time to be a volunteer. Diane Heintz was the Executive Director and she was an inspirational trainer and supervisor. I also got to learn a lot from being in court with Judge Paula Brownhill, working with experienced dependency lawyers like Mary Ann Murk, and from the other more experienced CASA volunteers that I had the pleasure to meet.

 Not being quite ready to be fully retired, when a part-time volunteer supervisor position opened up shortly before my move here, I applied for and got the job.  I learned a lot about dependency law while also studying to take the Oregon bar, a real challenge more than 20 years out of law school! After working for CASA for about three years, when Diane retired at the end of 2010, I became Executive Director of the program.

 Eventually, I stepped back into a volunteer supervisor role and got to work with three other talented EDs – Lauren Wilson, Julia Mabry and Nakesha Womble, our current ED.  I really and truly retired in March 2019, but continue to be a devoted CASA volunteer. I currently serve nine children (a family group of five, a family group of three, and an older youth). However, I greatly miss working with all of the CASA staff and especially, working with so many other great CASA volunteers.

 Being a CASA can be extremely frustrating. The most frustrating aspects for me are, first and foremost, the bureaucratic and legal obstacles to achieving what is truly in the best interests of a particular child.  The second most frustrating aspect for me is seeing parents who love their children but who are unable, for any number of reasons, to care for them as they should. The pain that these kids experience when their parents fail them is terrible, and terribly hard to overcome, even in the most loving and skilled foster home.

 When I find myself becoming despondent about these things, I remind myself that my anxiety or frustration is nothing compared to what the child is experiencing, and that any little bit of advocacy, support and comfort that I can provide is meaningful. It also helps that I know that there are good outcomes for many children, at least much better than one might have predicted at the start when a CASA opens a file and reads about the child’s neglect and abuse history. I have the great fortune of being in touch with several of “my” CASA kids, and it is intensely rewarding to know that I am a small contributing factor in that child’s rosier future.

 Outside of CASA, I am lucky to have interests which the restrictions of the COVID-19 environment haven’t impacted all that much.  I play the piano (I was a music major in college, before law school); I read a lot of novels and the occasional non-fiction book; I walk a lot in the forest or on the Riverwalk with Scott and our very active dog Ella; I enjoy cooking and baking; and I am learning more about gardening. I am thrilled that one of my sisters moved to Astoria after discovering its charms (and meeting a wonderful local fellow to whom she is engaged!). My family and my other friends, far and near, are hugely important to me and dearly cherished.