Dallas CASA’s annual Parade of Playhouses returns this summer to NorthPark Center. The event features custom-designed and built children’s playhouses on display and available to win by raffle.
All funds raised from the event benefit the child victims of abuse or neglect served by Dallas CASA’s volunteer advocates.
Parade of Playhouses brings attention to the needs of children who are living in the protective care of the state because it isn’t safe at home.
Amidst an overwhelmed child welfare system, Dallas CASA volunteers advocate for these children’s therapeutic, medical and educational needs, as well as their need for permanent, loving homes where they can grow to reach their full potential. Dallas CASA’s volunteers seek to protect children and restore childhood.
(Photos by Rosanne Lewis / Dallas CASA)
Playhouses are designed and built by Dallas-area architects, builders, corporations and craftsmen who donate their time and materials. Playhouses run the gamut of style and design, from pop culture-inspired castles to modern, abstract designs and from tiny versions of North Dallas new construction to play-based climbing structures.
Past houses have included spaceships, animals, a lighthouse, a working car wash, an aquarium and more. Dallas CASA is currently recruiting builders and sponsors for the 2023 Parade of Playhouses.
While NorthPark visitors enjoy the light-hearted, whimsical houses, the houses are a visual representation of the dreams of children in foster care who simply want permanent homes where they are safe and loved.
NorthPark Center has been an important partner for the event, lending its hallways to the playhouses each year since 1996. Crest Cadillac / INFINITI / Volvo returns as presenting sponsor and KDC will serve as grand marshal for the event.
The event will run July 14 to 30, 2023 at NorthPark Center, 8687 N. Central Expressway, 75225.
Dallas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) seeks to protect children, restore childhoods 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. Now in its 43rd year, Dallas CASA serves more children than any of the more than 900 CASA programs nationwide. While Dallas CASA envisions a day when all children experience safe and enriching childhoods, the agency currently provides a child advocate for every Dallas child in need. In 2022, 1,324 Dallas CASA volunteers were assigned to advocate for 2,611 children in protective care. To learn more, visit dallascasa.org.
