Amber Berry
Meet Amber Berry. Amber grew up in Southwest Missouri and was a traveling nurse. She lived in several places before meeting her husband Dr. Chris Berry. They have resided in Houma for 16 years. Amber has three children; Neal Grace is 14, Caraway is 11 and Pierce is nine. The family has one dog, Iris that they rescued four years ago.
After 20 years of working in the medical field, Amber is taking a break as a nurse practitioner to be home with her children and be available for more volunteer activities. Her favorite thing to do is Bible study. She enjoys running, participating in triathlons, and teaching fitness classes at Twisted Fitness. She also spends time coaching her kids’ sports like volleyball and cross country. A fun fact about Amber is that she can wiggle her ears. An interesting fact about Amber is that she had a stroke at birth, was paralyzed on her right side until she completed physical therapy at three years old and then had seizures until the age of 17. Amber is now completely recovered without any further residual problems and says, “I feel so blessed and grateful for my health and recovery.”
Amber shared that she was fortunate to have a foster brother and foster sister growing up. Her parents became certified foster parents when she was in junior high and it left a huge impression on her. Amber and her husband are in the process of completing their foster care certification through DCFS Lafourche. Before becoming a CASA herself, Amber had serval friends who were advocates. Amber believes that “we are called as Christians to advocate and defend the most vulnerable.” With that belief, Amber also believes that with all of her heart, “God called me to do this.” Amber says that being a CASA is hard, but we can do hard things. She states, “These children have to do very hard things through no fault of their own, so dig in and get messy and stay focused on the goal of loving others.” Amber says she feels like she is really doing something meaningful as a CASA and again “feels blessed and grateful to have met these wonderful children.”
