by Gary S. Hatrick
Empowering kids to spread their wings. There are few who would deny that our justice system has problems. Yet even if our justice system were near perfect, there would be victims who suffer – the children of the guilty. The adults involved may deserve the disruption to their lives and the loss of comfort and security, but the children are innocent and unwilling victims. For where we see the guilty, they see people they love who will either be incarcerated or be found unfit to care for them. On top of this, they also lose comfort and security.
It is this reality that drove Tracy Hanson to found Caterpillars to Butterflies, a non-profit foundation that began helping the unwitting victims of the legal system and has grown to help children from other backgrounds who are in need. Hanson’s journey into service began in 2018 while she was volunteering as a Guardian Ad Litem out of Dade City in Pasco County. As a guardian ad litem (GAL), Tracy was appointed by judges to investigate and protect the best interests of children during a specific legal case. The Latin phrase means “guardian for the lawsuit,” meaning her role lasted only for the duration of that specific court proceeding.
While GALs are supposed to remain detached and neutral, many who have served in this capacity have not been able to be completely neutral and detached. It is not usually in the nature of those who volunteer to help children. Hanson was no exception. “I had a very tricky case, and I kept paying for the kids to do activities and so forth to give them something to do, and you’re not really supposed to do that, but I did it anyway,” Hanson recalled. “I started thinking, ‘Well, there’s got to be a better way to do this because there are a lot more children that need these things than just the kids whose cases I’m on.’ So, I started looking into starting a foundation, and we did.”
“Our main purpose at the time was to shower children in the foster system with good experiences,” Hanson continued. “If a child wanted to be a ballerina, we were going to buy them the tutu and everything that goes with it, and all the lessons. We were trying to replace the traumatic memories that they had with positive experiences. Then it was back to school, and these kids need, you know, shoes and backpacks and that sort of thing, so we branched into that area.” While doing back-to-school work, Hanson had a foster child tell her that everyone in school knew who the foster kids were because they all had the same backpack. Hearing that, the foundation decided to give gift cards so that kids could choose individual backpacks, shoes, and other supplies they needed.
Of course, shortly after school starts, Christmas rolls around. “We needed to do something for Christmas,” Hanson said. “Each year we host a party out at my 10 acres in Dade City. Churches and different clubs like the Rotary Clubs come; they’ll set up a station, and the kids can go there and do crafts, or go over there and play a game. We feed the entire family, then Santa comes, and they get gifts and so forth. We have done all the way up to 400 foster children.”
The work became so time-consuming that Hanson had to make a choice between the GAL program and Caterpillars to Butterflies. She chose to remain with the foundation and, at 65, still works as though it were a paying full-time job. Her work, like that of all those involved, is volunteer work. There are no paid staff. “My mind does not shut off. It’s 24/7. Because kids are coming in 24/7, and I’m always thinking about how we can help more kids or about new ways that we raise funds,” Hanson said.
The state foster program and other local child service organizations are aware of Caterpillars to Butterflies and contact them when they see a family with a need. But it didn’t stop there. “This past year we got asked by a couple of kids that are in the Title I schools: ‘How come you don’t do anything for kids in Title I schools, when we really could use help as well?’ So last year was our year of transformation, and we have now branched into Title I schools as well,” Hanson said.
With the additional mission came a new illustration: “I say that our butterfly has two wings, and this wing is for foster children and their families, and the other wing is for children in the Title I schools. So far, we’re only in three schools. In Zephyrhills, we are at Woodland Elementary; in Dade City, we are at Pasco K-8 and Cox Elementary. Without increased funding, I can’t expand into the other schools.”
The foundation’s work in schools has gone beyond providing material needs to helping to improve education. “We went into the food bank and discovered that there was a lot of bad food in the food pantry at Cox Elementary,” Hanson explained. “We started focusing on where we could help there because these kids need better nutrition. They had a hydroponic garden that hadn’t been functioning for years. We got their hydroponic garden back up and running so the science teachers could teach the kids all about plants, start plants from seedlings, and then plant the plants and harvest the plants and take the food home. Then we discovered that they don’t get enough reading books for the children through the state, so we did a book drive to get them the Scholastic books that they needed.”
“Then some of the principals started telling us that a lot of these kids are being raised by grandparents on fixed incomes, and they don’t have enough money for birthday cakes and that sort of thing. So now they give us a list every month of the kids whose families could really use help on a birthday. We put together a birthday bag which has everything they need to make the cake, including the pan, plates, napkins, candles, and a designated present for that child. They get a present, and they get everything they need to have a birthday celebration. That’s been a really big hit. I think we have done about three hundred of those in the year since we started.”
And the stories go on. The biggest hurdle for Caterpillars to Butterflies is funding. They do not receive funds through the state, so they must rely on the generosity of churches, clubs, and individuals. The needs continue to grow, so the funds must increase as well. To donate to Caterpillars to Butterflies, visit caterflies.org. If you would like to volunteer or offer other help, call Tracy Hanson at (813) 924 9163.
Caterpillars to Butterflies Charitable Foundation, Inc.
13937 7th Street
Dade City, FL 33525
caterflies.org
(813) 720-7558
