Camp PEACE
Meet the Camp PEACE staff!
Cassandra Velasco Adams
Camp Director
Cassandra Velasco Adams joined Women’s Resource Center in 2014 as a volunteer child and family advocate. After six years of volunteering, interning and working with children at WRC, Cassie became Director of Children's Programming in 2019.
Cassandra holds a B.A. in Religious Studies and a M.A. in Religious Studies with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from Georgia State University. Cassie's graduate thesis was entitled “Project Peace: A Nonprofit Project Proposal,” which advocated for mindfulness meditation in public schools as a method for promoting resiliency among children who have been exposed to trauma, regardless of their religious affiliations. Cassie has studied peace education, enabling her to assist in cultivating a peaceful, conflict-aware and safe environment for children visiting the safe house.
Cassie has served as our agency's SEE Learning specialist, a program that provides educators with the tools they need to foster the development of emotional, social, and ethical intelligence for students and themselves. She promotes activities that teach children to reflect on the world outside themselves, such as the practice of meditation. She also encourages fun, hands-on and creative learning environments that support the idea that collaboration leads to innovative solutions and produces a larger impact on those working together and the world they are working in. This will be her 8th year with Camp PEACE.
Ariel Carreras
Child and Youth Advocate
Ariel Carreras serves as WRC's child and youth advocate. She works closely with Cassie Velasco, our director of children’s programming, to design and implement programs and services for kids impacted by domestic violence.
Ariel has worked with Camp PEACE since 2019. She also spent four years with the YMCA in Family Programming and The After School Enrichment Program for low-income families. Additionally, Ariel is an advocate for mental health awareness with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Outside of community development, Ariel uses photography as a creative outlet.
Ariel is excited to work with the children's program because it coincides with her own passion for mindfulness. Ariel loves helping children see their potential and build their confidence. Her work with children emphasizes feeling grounded and dedicating oneself to taking care of your mental health.
