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Casa de Esperanza: Celebrating 25 Years of Engaging Latinas and Latino Communities

Casa de Esperanza is celebrating 25 years of mobilizing Latinas and Latino communities to end domestic violence.  On May 30, 2008, the Latina organization will hold La Gala en La Plaza at the Crowne Plaza in St. Paul, Minnesota, to honor its history, celebrate the present, and kick off the next 25 years of engaging Latina women, their families, and Latino communities.

Casa de Esperanza's rich history is a story of strong, connected Latinas and communities.  
In 1982 a small group of Latinas in the Twin Cities recognized a need to shelter and support Latina women who were experiencing domestic violence.  The four founding women incorporated Casa de Esperanza as a nonprofit agency, and they began by leasing shelter space in the St. Paul YWCA, finding furniture and recruiting volunteers. Their goal was to provide Latinas with culturally sensitive support that incorporated the Latino values of familia and comunidad.  As soon as they opened their doors, they had a full house of women and children seeking a safe shelter.  With a couple of years Casa de Esperanza was able to purchase a three-story house with six bedrooms in St. Paul and expand their capacity.    

Over the next 16 years, Casa de Esperanza evolved into a successful domestic violence organization: providing crisis support, shelter and advocacy for women and children.  The organization met challenges head on and took each criticism as an opportunity to learn and evolve.  By 1993, Casa de Esperanza established a 24-hour, bilingual crisis line, a first for Minnesota, and created a first-of-its kind film addressing domestic violence in lesbian relationships called My Girlfriend Did It.
Sensing a need to strengthen their Latino roots and identity, in 1997, the Casa de Esperanza Board of Directors launched a strategic planning process aimed at building a stronger presence in the Latino community; putting Latinas and their children at the center of their work; finding new, more effective ways of providing intervention and safety to Latinas; and putting more resources into prevention and education.
In the years that followed, Casa de Esperanza sharpened its identity as a Latina agency. Staff members went out into the community to listen to the voices of Latinas.  As part of an initiative, called Fuerza Unida, staff members and Latinas in the community asked women about their hopes and dreams, their successes, their support networks and their struggles.  The response was a call for Casa de Esperanza to have a stronger presence in the community.  So, the organization began rethinking the work of ending domestic violence and created an action plan to support Latinas in reaching their goals.  The new direction emphasized that solutions would result from mobilizing the community, rather than simply creating programs.  

Casa de Esperanza staff began to provide women in the community the same services that they were providing to women in the Refugio.  Building on the importance of familia, Casa de Esperanza family advocates extended services to the entire family.  Furthermore, they articulated a philosophy of working from women's strengths, not from their deficits.  Rather than seeing women experiencing domestic violence as “needy,” they shifted their approach to building on strengths
In 2001 Casa de Esperanza changed its mission statement to reflect their new direction: to mobilize Latinas and Latino communities to end domestic violence.  The idea of mobilizing individuals, families and communities went further than providing shelter and advocacy and concentrated on addressing the root causes of domestic violence.  In 2002 Casa de Esperanza deepened its community presence by opening Centros de Infomacion y Recursos in Latino neighborhoods in St. Paul and Minneapolis.  Also, in order to provide other individuals and organizations tools to engage Latinas and Latino communities in the work of ending domestic violence: ¡Ubícate!, Latino Families and Domestic Violence, Te quiero contar algo workbook, ¿Qué sientes ahora? flashcards, and Elena y los frijoles mágicos storybook.
Today Casa de Esperanza continues its work in local Latino communities.  They also provide support and training to national and international organizations to improve services for Latinas experiencing domestic violence and to enhance efforts to engage Latino communities.
As then Executive Director Lupe Serrano put it, “One of the ways we 'live out' our mission,” says President Lupe Serrano, “is by putting the work of ending domestic violence in the hands of more and more people.” Over its 25 year history, Casa de Esperanza has served 125,000 families.
For more information on Casa de Esperanza's La Gala en La Plaza, please call 651.646.5553, or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Tickets are $75 per person, and there are opportunities for sponsorships.