Dear Friends,

In June 2000, my wife and I took a leap of faith and opened a community facility in San Carlos, CA. We leased a 20,000 square foot warehouse, formerly a Builders Emporium with the hopes of developing a facility that would provide convenient services to seniors and families, with an emphasis on supporting children. We were driven by our passion and love of kids, and by our commitment to minimize problems created by changes in our society. Dual income and single parent families leave over 1,000,000 children in California, alone during daytime hours. Recent surveys show 100% of those questioned believe these unattended hours are unhealthy for our children. It is a BASIC fact that children were meant to have adult/parental support growing up.

We have watched Casey's Place become an important resource for children and families. We began with one summer camp in July 2000, and an after school program with six enrollees in September 2001. Today we are proud to say that we operated thirteen Summer Camps in 2002, that almost fifty elementary and middle school aged children call Casey's Place "home" Before and After School, and many organizations supporting youth including Girl Scouts and Home of the Guiding Hands visit the site regularly. While many of our ideas regarding facility design disappeared long ago, they have been replaced by a concept so simple, that it too is BASIC!

We believed that the changes in society meant children in before and after school programs would never be able to experience the comfort of going home after school. Programs run by national organizations, constantly fearful of lawsuits, could never allow children the freedoms that parents permitted. We removed the comfort and the freedom from their day, and consequently removed the fun. Our problem has always been in looking at children through our eyes, instead of looking at life through theirs. That is why we never understood that an empty warehouse, with old carpeting, and second hand furniture was exactly what kids wanted. It felt like home. Every after school program, should feel like home, it's BASIC!

Our initial ideas for supporting Casey's Place centered around an affinity VISA card program. The program has not developed the way we hoped. Jan and I have funded the costs of developing Casey's Place and it's existing programs. Operating revenues are expected to be $210,000 in 2003. Our goal to create a self-sustaining facility should be reached in 2004. We have added professionals who are working with us to maximize facility generated revenues. Our financial resources, are no longer able to bridge the gap until 2004. Casey's Place needs to stay open.

In a way Casey's Place has become something our children own. They know it is different than other businesses, they know it feels safe, and they show us daily that it is fun. They also know the people that started it, the people that run it, and it stands out as an example of how you can make a difference, at a time when that idea is slipping away. We continue working on community building ideas that are important. We have only started to see Casey's Place value. There is not easy answer when faced with a BASIC problem.

Sincerely,

Casey Kinslow
Founder, Casey’s Place