CASO acquired a house in Minot that will accommodate its closet of clothing and other other items for foster children as well as provide family visitation rooms, a sensory room, a homelike setting for children awaiting foster care placement and plenty of welcomed storage space.

“We’re super excited. It’s an amazing neighborhood, amazing home,” CASO Executive Director Jolene Haffner said. “It’s just fun to see how it fit all three of our missions. The house has room for all three of them – the closet, the visitation room and the apartment.”

CASO volunteers, with some professional assistance, have finished a good share of the remodeling already. The move-in this past week went smoothly because of community and Minot Air Force Base volunteers who came to help, Haffner said. Local businesses offered volunteer labor and a laundromat provided free laundry services for clothing donated to CASO Closet.

CASO Closet previously operated in space in a county-owned building. Haffner said the hope is to have the closet set up and open in the new location by the end of February.

Jill Schramm/MDN Naomi Brendsel helps Thursday, Feb. 5, with stocking children’s clothing in CASO Closet, which is moving into a new house acquired by Come AlongSide Others in Minot to serve the foster care program.

CASO Closet provides each child with five items of clothing, a blanket, hygiene supplies, shoes, toys and a suitcase to carry everything with them.

The closet is supplied by community donations.

The house’s two visitation rooms will give foster children and biological family members nearing finalization of their reunification process a family-friendly place to socialize under supervision of a case manager. Currently, visitations typically take place in an office setting.

One visitation room includes access to a kitchen. The home also has a backyard where families can spend time together. Plans are to install a basketball hoop and playground equipment, Haffner said.

The home will include a sensory room, where children can safely regulate their emotions. Haffner said the intent is to provide equipment along the lines of a trampoline, a swing and a punching bag.

The home also has a two-bedroom apartment where children can stay while waiting for foster care placement. They would remain under the supervision of case managers, with support from CASO volunteers.

“However long it takes for a foster home to be found, they are welcome to stay here,” Haffner said. Currently, children awaiting placement are housed in a county office building.

“They have a place to sleep, but it’s not family friendly,” Haffner said. The bedrooms at the CASO house can accommodate up to four children. If a child is looking at an extended stay, CASO has decorations they can choose from to personalize their rooms.

Kristi Frederick, director of the Ward County Human Service Zone, said the CASO house will be a significant support for the foster care program. The closet helps provide for immediate, basic needs that otherwise can go unmet when a child enters the foster care system, she said.

The house also allows family interactions to occur in a more natural setting, Frederick said.

“That supports reunification and maintaining those bonds and supporting those connections between children and families,” she said. Meanwhile, the apartment for temporary housing offers a safe space.

“The whole goal is really to reduce trauma,” she said. “It’s traumatic enough to have to be removed from their caregivers, and so, if we can keep them in a much more relaxed setting and environment, that is better for their mental health and their emotional regulation.”

CASO is aiming for a full opening by the end of May, which is Foster Care Awareness Month, Haffner said CASO continues to accept monetary and other donations toward that end.

Slumberland has donated beds but CASO still needs a stackable washer/dryer and items to supply two kitchens. CASO is participating in Giving Hearts Day, through which charities can solicit public donations and receive a match. CASO’s potential match is $21,500. The final day for people to donate online is Feb. 12.

Haffner noted CASO will have ongoing expenses, including a mortgage, but its heavy reliance on volunteers stretches those donation dollars.

“Everything goes right back into the kids, into the programming,” she said.