Thomas the Tortoise visits St. Francisville Rotary, school
Community news report
Thomas the 200-pound tortoise, recently visited the Rotary Club of St. Francisville and Bains Lower Elementary School, guided by handlers Cecil and Lauren Garaudy, of Denham Springs.
The father and daughter duo, both of whom work for DEMCO, took a moment to deliver a presentation for the local Rotary Club and school to share their personal 20-year journey with Thomas.
Thomas, a Sulcata tortoise, also known as an African spurred tortoise, began as a small, palm-sized gift for Garaudy’s son over two decades ago, and Thomas has grown to 200 pounds and 3 feet long
Originating from the semiarid desert regions of Africa, the Sulcata tortoise is renowned for its friendly and engaging nature as a pet. This has resulted in extensive breeding programs across the southern United States, particularly in states such as Arizona Sulcatas, however, are not for everyone, Garaudy said. “They love to burrow large holes in the ground to avoid the extreme daytime heat, and their destructive behavior can wreak havoc on your yard’s landscaping.” Sulcatas also require a large and strong enclosure, otherwise they will wander off in search of food and adventure.
Owning a Sulcata, Garaudy added, can be a lifelong commitment as their life expectancy averages more than 70 years.
Thomas’ diet is fiber-rich with fresh vegetables and low protein, namely lettuce, bell peppers, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. Given Thomas’ healthy appetite Garaudy said that planting his own vegetable garden might make sense to most people, but Thomas would inevitably penetrate any garden fencing only to gorge himself silly
PROVIDED PHOTO
Rotarian the Rev. Brandon Sikes pauses in front of the West Feliciana Library to offer a comforting hand to Thomas, a 200-pound Sulcata tortoise, who recently visited the Rotary Club of St. Francisville.
To put Thomas’s strength in perspective, he has been observed casually pushing Garaudy’s large riding lawn mower across the yard under his own power
Many Rotarians and schoolchildren took turns posing for photos and petting his shell.
Despite Thomas’s thick and hard shell, he is sensitive enough to sense even a gentle human touch. The Garaudys are supporters of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and often bring Thomas to events whenever there’s a local St. Jude fundraiser or recognition program.
EAST AND WEST FELICIANA COUNCIL ON AGING
EAST FELICIANA
n 11102 Bank St., Clinton n 3699 La. 10, Jackson Wednesday, May 7
SEWING AND QUILTING CLASS: 10 a.m.
MONDAY: Line dance
FOURTH MONDAY: Religious service
TUESDAYS: Nutrition education
WEDNESDAYS: Exercise/yoga
THURSDAYS: Bible study
FRIDAYS: Bingo/movie/excursion
n All people 60 and older in West Feliciana Parish are invited to join
n For transportation to the center or questions, call (225) 635-6719.
DEVOTIONAL: 11:15 a.m. LUNCH: 11:30 a.m. ART CLASS: noon
Thursday, May 8
CHOIR CLASS: 9:30-10:15 a.m. BINGO: 10:30 a.m. LUNCH: 11:30 a.m.
Friday, May 9
EXERCISE CLASS: 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. LUNCH: 11:30 a.m.
Monday, May 12
EXERCISE CLASS: 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. LUNCH: 11:30 a.m.
Tuesday, May 13
CHOIR CLASS: 9:30-10:15 a.m. BINGO: 10:30 a.m. LUNCH: 11:30 a.m.
Transportation Transportation is provided to East Feliciana Parish residents of any age for appointments in East Feliciana, West Feliciana and East Baton Rouge parishes Monday through Friday. Call (225) 683-9862 to schedule a transportation appointment.
GRADUATES,
Register for summer basketball
West Feliciana Parish Parks and Recreation has opened registration for Summer Basketball for ages 5-12. The fee is $75 and deadline in May 30. Preseason practices are June 9-20 and games are June 23July 31. Register at wfprec.com. For questions, contact (225) 7848447 or mpatten@wfparish.org.
Main Street Restoration Grants
Louisiana Main Street is soliciting grant applications to assist with building restoration projects on historic commercial structures located within designated Main Street districts.
Applications may be submitted by commercial building owners and/or business owners. This grant opportunity provides grants ranging from $2,500 to $10,000. Restoration projects can be on the interior and/or exterior of the commercial structure. The deadline is May 30. Applications received from St. Francisville Main Street building and/or business owners will compete statewide for funding with applications from other designated Main Street districts.
To be eligible, a building must be located within the designated Main Street district, be used for commercial purposes, and be at least 50 years old. In addition, the proposed work must be approved by the local historic district commission (exterior work only) and Louisiana Main Street, while also conforming to the guidelines set forth by the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.
The Louisiana Main Street Restoration Grant application guidelines, details and deadlines are available from Laurie Walsh St. Francisville Main Street (225) 635-3688 or lwalsh@townofstf. com or lauriemainst@bellsouth. net.
4-H fundraiser set East Feliciana 4-H’s Shotgun Fundraiser begins at 9 a.m. May 31 at Riverside Sporting Clays, 52400 La. 16, Denham Springs. Sign-in starts at 7:30 a.m. Visit east-feliciana-4-h-foundation. square.site to register
Send news and events for East and West Feliciana parishes to extra@theadvocate.com by noon Friday or call (225) 388-0731.
THEWORLD IS YOURS!
To all the area graduates at ourlocal highschools, Louisiana’scollegesand universities, andthose whoare completing school outofstate, West FelicianaHospitalwishesyou success andthe best as youmoveontowhat’snextinyourlife.
To allthe parents, family members, andfriends whosupportedthese graduates, we saluteyour love anddevotionasyou helped them become whotheyare today.
Congratulationstothe Classof2025. Make the most of your opportunity!
trenches a lot longer than you should,” Braun said.
Children enter foster care after having to leave their families due mainly to neglect or abuse. Allegations of neglect are often connected with poverty, and Louisiana hovers at the top of the list of states with the highest rates. In 2024, Louisiana officials received more than 52,000 abuse and neglect reports and conducted more than 21,500 investigations.
“I keep saying, ‘once I get like 10 or 15 more foster parents doing this kind of work, then I’ll be able to retire,’ “ Braun said. “But as long as there’s only 21 homes in the parish, I feel like it’s not really fair for me to throw in the towel.”
She says being perfect is not a requirement to foster
“You can be a normal person and be a foster parent. You don’t have to be extraordinary,” Braun said.
Recovering from COVID
The need for foster homes and related resources is dire statewide.
While the number of children in the foster care system has largely remained consistent over several decades, a noticeable change occurred during peak COVID years.
The rates took a nosedive during the pandemic because fewer eyes were on children — not because fewer children needed foster care, DCFS Secretary David Matlock said.
When schools reopened and masks were removed, the number needing foster care quickly bounced back, as more eyes were on victims of neglect or abuse In some parishes in the capital region and surrounding area, the demand reached record highs.
Last year East Baton Rouge Parish had the highest number of foster children in the state, with 606, a noticeable increase from 386 in 2019. In some smaller, more rural parishes around Baton Rouge, such as West Baton Rouge, Iberville, West Feliciana and Point Coupee, the numbers have more than doubled since 2019. However, at the same time, some large parishes like St Tammany, Ascension and Tangipahoa have had numbers fall below 2019 rates.
Several state social service workers and child advocates say it is hard to pinpoint an exact reason for rise and fall of cases in certain areas. Causes can range from changes in unemployment and poverty rates to ebbs and flows in child welfare awareness and more mandated reporters. Too few foster parents, volunteers
The increase was alarming because COVID had already widened the gap between the number of foster children and parents.
Joel Hooper, a manager of
DCFS foster care recruitment, said COVID hurt foster family recruitment due to lockdown or fears of catching the virus. Despite COVID concerns disappearing, recruitment has yet to fully rebound.
“We had less families coming in on the front end, but on the back end we had more families leaving the program due to similar concerns. So over time, that caught up with us,” Hooper said.
In the past two decades, the state has launched multiple foster parent recruitment initiatives. A project in the past year included hiring a new team of regional foster care recruitment and retention employees led by Hooper
Kellye Worley joined the team about a year ago and focuses on spreading awareness about the need for foster parents.
“The need for foster parents is really really huge right now,” Worley told a group of about 40 people gathered in Baton Rouge at a local child and family welfare leadership collaborative meeting. “Our foster parents are very overworked right now.”
Other resources for foster children are also stretched, often operating only off volunteers, donations and grants.
Louisiana has 18 branches of the national Court Appointed Special Advocates Association. CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to help children in the foster system. Those volunteers provide support as children go through the legal process for about a year Allison Traxler, executive director of the East Baton Rouge Parish CASA, said that before 2020, her branch had a volunteer for every child that needed one But foster care numbers have increased in the past three years.
“Since COVID a lot of the CASA programs are not being able to keep up with the number of children who are placed in foster care,” Traxler said. “We have about 120 children on our waiting list right now.”
The CASA of the 18th Judicial District Court, which covers Iberville, Point Coupee and West Baton Rouge parishes, echoed similar sentiments. The number of foster children in all three parishes more than doubled from 2019 to 2024. Executive Director Kendall Hebert said about half of the children have an appointed CASA volunteer She cited rising foster rates the newness of that CASA branch and a struggle to recruit Recently, CASA experienced a hit to its recruitment efforts. The U.S. Department of Justice issued hundreds of terminations of federal grant awards in late April, and the national CASA was one of the recipients.
Louisiana CASA Executive Director Amanda Moody says while the cut is “not detrimental to our survival” given diversified funding efforts, the $120,000 cut from
the state impacted special projects — including one for recruitment.
“That really does hurt,” she said.
Still, Louisiana CASAs had a record-breaking month of volunteers joining in March, according to Moody Retention and recruitment
Like CASA, other child welfare workers and groups are brainstorming ways to bring more people’s eyes to the foster system with costefficient solutions.
Among the challenges are low daily rates for taking in foster children — families receive an average of $19 a day per child. The state Legislature sets those rates and last increased them in 2021 They currently fall below the recommended average for Southern states.
“We need 125 more child welfare workers, more cars we’re resource-trapped,” Matlock, the DCFS head, said recently In turn, local volunteer community collaboratives and forming support groups are prioritized. Matlock said community collaboratives like the one in Baton Rouge are to be implemented throughout the state.
Another focus is increasing faith-based collaborations, with many churches spreading the word about foster parent recruitment and urging people to become certified.
DCFS is also testing ways to improve the registration and training process for foster parents.
“We’re streamlining that and trying to make it more friendly to foster parents. We’re just making it a little more accessible,” Matlock
when it
to
based in Monroe, has focused on support campaigns for its foster parents, said Colby Hennigan, a family recruiter
The private organization, created in 2015, is a therapeutic foster care program, meaning it serves children who are medically fragile or have special needs. In April, Methodist had 197 homes serving 173 foster kids across the state At the same time, DCFS recommends about 40 children per month to be homed through Methodist, according to Hennigan.
Methodist prioritizes weekly in-person visits and phone calls and other extensive support services that Hennigan believes make a huge difference.
“We recognize that it’s not enough to just recruit foster parents, we have to retain them too,” he said. Email Claire Grunewald at claire.grunewald@ theadvocate.com.
Colby Hennigan, with Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home, speaks about how the different organizations involved with foster care are collaborators rather than competitors during the Foster Care Community Collaborative event at Family Youth Service Center on April 8.
STAFF PHOTOS BY JAVIER GALLEGOS
Rebecca Braun, foster mom and director of The Foster Village, poses for a picture inside of the clothing boutique where foster children and those in need can get clothing essential items and toys.
Source: Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services
said. Some organizations outside of DCFS have found success in prioritizing re-
tention
comes
foster parents. Methodist Foster Care, a statewide foster program
