Dallas CASA’s Parade of Playhouses Open at NorthPark Center June 14 to 30
The 29th annual Dallas CASA Parade of Playhouses will take place June 14 to 30 at NorthPark Center.
(Featured image: The Hobbit House, 2023 CASA Playhouse.)
This beloved event, sponsored by Crest Cadillac, features extraordinary children’s playhouses designed, built and donated by generous architects, builders, organizations, corporations and individuals. The playhouses are available to win by raffle, with proceeds allowing Dallas CASA to provide more volunteer advocates to help children experience safe childhoods and grow into resourceful, healthy adults.
“For too many children, home represents instability, addiction, fear and violence, and many families lack the resources to overcome these challenges,” said Kathleen M. LaValle, president and CEO of Dallas CASA. “These playhouses represent what everyone at Dallas CASA would like home to be for all children and their families – safe, loving, protective and full of hope about the future.”
Playhouses will be displayed in the hallways of NorthPark Center, which has hosted the event since 1996. Parade Grand Marshal is KDC. The 13 houses on display this year feature an array of creative designs, including a pink-themed playhouse, an A-frame design, an ice cream shop, a castle, a fire station and a Dallas Mavericks-themed athletic shoe. Many are designed both for playing and climbing, with rope ladders, slides, a catwalk and climbing walls.
Some houses feature special touches like metal roofs, polycarbonate panels designed to look like stained glass, shake siding and a hinged window. Kimley Horn’s house, “Stars at Night,” will feature wood grain designed to look like swirling galaxies. OMNIPLAN’s design, built by Austin Commercial, resembles a mountain ready to be summited.
“Our volunteers are the heartbeat of this agency, and we count our playhouse builders as volunteers,” LaValle said. “They donate not just their time and creativity, but their hearts as well. Each one of these houses is built on a foundation of care and concern for the most vulnerable in our community.”
Raffle tickets to win a playhouse can be purchased during the event for $5 each or five for $20 on the Dallas CASA website at dallascasa.org or at NorthPark Center. Winners will be randomly selected on the final day of the event on June 30.
Dallas CASA volunteers are assigned by the courts to the cases of children living in the protective care of the state. Volunteers work with children, their families, therapists, educators, attorneys and more as they seek to protect children and make supportive connections. In 2023, 1,088 Dallas CASA volunteers were assigned to advocate for 2,151 children.
Thanks to the support of events like Parade of Playhouses, Dallas CASA has been able to provide an advocate for every Dallas child who needs one for the past five years. The agency is able to accept appointments from all 10 courts to every Dallas County child welfare case.
The 2024 Parade of Playhouses would not be possible without the support of our generous sponsors, builders and supporters:
* Presenting Sponsor: Crest Cadillac
* Parade Host: NorthPark Center
* Grand Marshal: KDC
* Mansion: Espedal Design Construction, Kappa Alpha Theta Dallas Alumnae Chapter
* Villa: Bernbaum/Magadini Architects, Candy’s Dirt, Datum Engineers, People Newspapers
* Builders and Architects: Austin Commercial, BakerTriangle Prefab, Balfour Beatty Construction, Butscher Construction, Coats Homes, Corgan, Crest Cadillac, Dallas Mavericks, Davis-Hawn Lumber Company, DPR Construction, Earthbound Martian, Espedal Design Construct, Hensel Phelps, Highland Park High School MAPS Students, Jacobs, Kimley-Horn, LRO Residential, OMNIPLAN, Perkins + Will, Preservation Park Cities Board, SMH Architects, Carlos Sierra, Stainback Construction, Stream Realty, SWINERTON
About Dallas CASA
Dallas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) seeks to protect children, restore childhood and help child victims of abuse or neglect achieve their full potential. The agency’s trained and supervised community volunteers are assigned by judges to advocate for the best interests of children who have experienced abuse or neglect and are living in the protective care of the state. For many children in foster care, their Dallas CASA volunteer is the only consistent, caring adult in their lives during a frightening, uncertain time. Dallas CASA envisions a day when all children experience safe childhoods and grow into resourceful, healthy adults. Now in its 44th year, Dallas CASA serves more children than any of the more than 900 CASA programs nationwide. In 2023, 1,088 Dallas CASA volunteers were assigned to advocate for 2,151 children in protective care. For the past five years, the agency has been able to provide an advocate for every Dallas child in need. To learn more, visit dallascasa.org.
Photos courtesy Dallas CASA.
(Philanthropy Lifestyles gratefully acknowledges Dallas CASA as sponsor of this eBuzz post.)
