Carole Hofmann,
A Hero In Our Midst

Carole Hofmann, a single working mother of three daughters, is being honored by the national Heroes In Our Midst program for impacting the life of a young girl through the Big Brother Big Sisters (BBBS) program.

Carole and her daughters, Laurie, 20 and Jessie, 14, reside in Crownsville, Md., a semi-rural pocket of Anne Arundel County, where they also enjoy the company of a few farm animals. In addition to her role as a mother and a Big Sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Maryland, Carole also works as a manager in the customer service department at SunTrust Bank’s operations in Glen Burnie, MD.

Six years ago Carole felt compelled to give back to the community and decided to look into the BBBS program. She felt that she wanted to give the same love and attention she gives her own daughters to an underprivileged young girl.

“I just love kids, and I feel lucky that my three girls are all healthy and very good students. But, I think that it’s important to connect and reach out to other young girls who don’t have the advantages that my girls have had,” said Carole.

Carole went through an initial interview process with BBBS of Central MD and was matched with 11-year-old Casey Parce, who was in the fifth grade. Casey was living with her mother and her two brothers at the time, and she was very close to her mother. Her mother thought Casey would benefit from having a mentor in her life and signed her up to become a Little Sister.

Carole was excited about being a Big Sister, but she worried that as a single working mother, she wouldn’t be able to devote a lot of quality time or plan costly activities with Casey. “I was nervous at first… as a single mom, I didn’t have a lot of money for things like eating out or going to the movies, and I was worried that Casey might have those expectations. As it turned out, my fears were completely unfounded,” said Carole.

After several initial meetings, Carole found out that Casey was perfectly content with visiting her house and hanging out with her daughters, studying, and joining in on family dinners. They also discovered that they both have a strong respect and love of animals, which really helped to foster their friendship in its early stages. Almost immediately, Casey began fitting into the fabric of the Hofmann household and became especially close to Carole’s youngest daughter, Jessie, who is now 14. “I think that Casey found a friendship with Jesse that she’d never experienced before,” said Carole. Casey eventually began going on family vacations and weekend trips with Carole and her girls.

As the years went by, Carole continued to provide Casey with support and guidance about her education, her life and her dreams, while making her home a sanctuary. “Casey and I talked all the time about the importance of school and making good grades. She wants to attend college and has been doing some research, even though she still has a couple more years left to go at Glen Burnie High School,” said Carole.

Early last year, however, tragedy struck Casey’s family. Her mother had become very ill in the early part of the year and began having severe breathing problems. As the illness worsened and was diagnosed as terminal, Casey, who was almost 16 at the time, stopped going to school altogether so she could spend the last days with her mother. Casey’s mother fought the illness as long as she could, and died in October of last year.

As Casey was going through the turmoil of losing her mother, Carole continued to play a loving and supporting role for her Little Sister. Dealing with the loss of her mother affected Casey’s desire to continue her studies; however, Carole reminded her that her mother would have wanted her to move on with her life and get back into school. Carole continued to talk with Casey about the importance of her education and how it would enhance and better her life.

“Casey saw the importance of an education. And, I know that she wants it for herself, and I know this is what her mother would have wanted for her,” says Carole.

Thanks to Carole’s mentoring and support, Casey returned to school in December of last year. Though she missed several months of school, she is back on track and attending Glen Burnie High School as a sophomore this year.

“It’s still hard to comprehend that my mom’s not coming back, but I’ve been able to pick my head up and have hope for the future, thanks to Miss Carole,” said Casey.