Venessa Smith: Seeing Possibilities for Children

Venessa Smith
11th Judicial District Guardian ad Litem Program, Miami, FL

When Venessa Smith enters a family’s home or meets with children for the first time, she sees possibilities where many might see deficiencies.

“I tell the children, and I tell their parents: Where you are now does not dictate where you will be tomorrow.”

Venessa knows that lives can get better because she has lived through difficult times herself, as a divorced single mother raising two boys, one born prematurely with medical issues. When her youngest son left for college 14 years ago, she became a guardian ad litem volunteer with the Miami-Dade County guardian ad litem program. Since then, she has advocated for nearly 100 children, all while working full-time as an administrative secretary.

To her work, Venessa brings the convictions created through her own family’s experience and the insights shaped by her African American culture.

“Cultures are so different—as an African American woman working with a black child, there are things that have happened in my life that allow me to reach that child—and to understand where he or she is going. There are so many black children in the system, many without guardians of their own culture. Part of my role as a volunteer is to help them maintain their culture.”

In addition to advocating for children as a guardian ad litem volunteer, Venessa has also served on the program’s Inclusiveness/Diversity Committee and Volunteer Recruitment Committee.  

“We need more African American volunteers. We have to help the kids so that our children will not be statistics.”