Things to Look Forward To LA CASA DE AMISTAD, INC. · Things to Look Forward To ... migo Summer...
Transcript of Things to Look Forward To LA CASA DE AMISTAD, INC. · Things to Look Forward To ... migo Summer...
Things to Look Forward To
Save these dates for Fiesta Michiana 2009
“Fiesta at the Cove” Friday, August 7th
Dance @ Century Center Saturday, August 8th
Fiesta Dinner Friday, August 14th
More information to come in May, 2009
La Casa de Amistad Women’s Expo
September 2009
Contact Laura Blankenship for more information
La Casa de Amistad Rummage Sale
June 20th, 2009
Contact Karen Gonzalez for more information or
to make donation
746 South Meade Street
South Bend, IN 46619
Phone: (574) 233-2120 / Fax: (574) 233-2234
Email:
Website: www.lacasadeamistad.org
“La Casa Es Tú Casa”
ANNUAL REPORT 2008
LA CASA DE AMISTAD, INC.
Letter from the Director Page 2
I have now been at La Casa de Amistad as the Executive Director for two years. In my two years I have often found reassurance in the words spoken by Mother Teresa; “Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God-the rest will be given.” As many of you already know, raising funds is difficult, especially in this time of great economic distress in our country. But I have found that if we concentrate on providing the best services, programs and sup-port for our clients, the financial support will come. Our community is in such great “poverty”, and I do not speak of finan-cial poverty, although it is included, but I speak of that feeling of being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, and/or forgotten. These feelings are the worse kind of “poverty”, because success can not be realized if we at least do not have faith in who we are and what we can accomplish. This is why La Casa de Amistad is so important to our community and why for 35 years it has provided that secure home for our “poor”. Thank you to the La Casa de Amistad staff, board, volunteers, and do-nors for joining me on this wonderful mission, and I pray that our work will continue to empower many men, women, and children in the years to come. Gracias,
Rebecca Ruvalcaba Executive Director
-Mother Teresa-
La Casa de Amistad Staff & Board Page 15
2008 Office Staff Rebecca Ruvalcaba Executive Director
Maria “Suzie” Balderas Receptionist &Administrative Asst.
Laura A. Blankenship Business Manager
Griselda Marin Maintenance
Karen Gonzalez Volunteer Coordinator
John Yarger Food Pantry Manager
Diana Manriquez Yo Puedo Leer Teacher
Suleima Gonzalez Office Assistant
2008 Program Coordinators
Imelda Dorado Strengthening Families
Sofia Manriquez Strengthening Families
Nancy Flores ENL & Citizenship Instructor
Rafael Marin Computer Instructor
Enrique Oliva Sp. GED Instructor
Xavier Food Pantry Assistant
Alejandro Flores FPU Instructor—English
2008 Board Members
Margo DeMont (President) Jose Alvarez
Michelle Shakour (V.Pres.) Kathy Dvorak
Kevin Sherbun (Treasurer) Louise Anella
Dea Andrews (Secretary) Monsour Eid
Alyssia J. Coates Jennifer Maddox Nancy DeWald Ball Rodolfo Monterrosa Jesusa Rodriguez
2008 Financial Report Page 14
Income: Expenses:Contributions 76,538.00 Occupancy 13,734.85 Grants 194,245.76 Operational 160,216.72 Special Events 31,569.15 Office Expenses 16,236.69 Other Revenues 5,398.00 Program Expenses 82,941.26
Total Income 307,750.91 Special Events Expenses 11,770.48 Total Expenses 284,900.00
Change in net assets 22,850.91$
2008 Financial Report La Casa de Amistad, Inc.
25%
63%
10%
2%Contributions
Grants
Special Events
Other Revenues
5%
56%
6%
29%
4%
Occupancy
Operational
Office Expenses
Program Expenses
South Bend Junior League check presentation at La Casa de Amistad
Board meeting.
Page 3 Table of Contents
Our Literacy/Education Programs for Children ……………………… Page 4 Our Literacy/Education Programs for Adults ………………………… Page 5-6 Food Pantry ……………………………………………………………... Page 7 Social Services and Volunteers ………………………………………… Page 8 Our Partnerships & Donors ……………………………………………. . Page 9 Fiesta Michiana 2008……………………………………………………… Page 10-11 La Casa de Amistad Fundraising & Events……………………………… Page 12-13 2008 Financial Report…………………………………………………….. Page 14 Board and Staff…………………………………………………………….. Page 15
MISSION STATEMENT
To empower the Latino/Hispanic community within Michiana by providing educational, cultural and advocacy services in a
welcoming, bilingual environment.
Page 4 Our Literacy/Education Programs for Children
Eric and Esteban, of
our Yo Puedo Leer Program, enjoying a nice day outside.
Romeo,of our Crece Con-
migo Summer cultural arts
program, working on a
mask project.
Yo Puedo Leer The Yo Puedo Leer (I Can Read) program is a reading readiness program for preschoolers in Spanish. This program was developed over 20 years ago through the South Bend Bilingual Education Depart-ment, and it was used in the bilingual kindergarten classes for many years. For the last 4 years it has been part of our La Casa de Amistad programming, and it has been used to help our Spanish-speaking preschool children gain the basic language skills before kindergarten; but this year we welcomed non-Spanish speaking children to the class. All our children were exposed to a second language, Spanish and / or English. There are many benefits to having our children learn a second language, like; Cogni-tive benefits ( The latest research has proven that bilingual children have better IQ test scores, as com-pared to monolingual children), character advantages (It increases a sense of self-esteem), curriculum benefits (Bilingual children tend to show a higher performance in examinations and overall tests), cul-tural, and communication advantages. This has been a great experience for all, and we are looking to expand Yo Puedo Leer to include more non-Spanish speaking children in the 2009-2010 program.
Crece Conmigo Our after school & summer program, was full of bright, energetic kids in 2008. Our after school program had 28 children participate in last years tutorial, recreational program. Mr. Art Gorman, retired music teacher, came in, sang with and taught our children piano. We also had many Notre Dame volunteers partici-pate, and give their time in tutoring, project completion and recreation with our kids. Then, our seven week Crece Conmigo summer program consisted of 25 children from 8 -12 years old. It was a program that gave kids the opportunity to express themselves through art, music, and theatre. The South Bend Police Department provided field trip opportunities for our kids, as well as tennis lessons once a week. We also partnered with Youth Service Bureau , Saint Mary’s College, South Bend Civic Theatre, and Memo-rial Hospital in providing empowering activities for our young people. Our children were taught music, health and wellness, play acting and self esteem, along with socialization and just plain ol’ fun. We are truly grateful to all who made 2008 a great year, GRACIAS!!!
Page 13 La Casa de Amistad Fundraisers & Events cont.
Crece Conmigo Summer Program Presentation.
July 2008
Mariposa women’s group Gallery opening at Crossroads.
November 2008
Other Events and Fundraisers:
La Casa Rummage Sale June 2008
La Casa Food Sale October 2008
ND Mendoza Business School Book Sale
August 2008 Cinco de Mayo at Walmart w/ SBPD
May 2008
Page 12 La Casa de Amistad fundraisers & Events
Fischoff performance for Crece Conmigo children.
Spring 2008
Granger Community Church Food Delivery. January 2008
Latina Women’s Expo At La Casa de Amistad.
July 2008
Page 5 Our Literacy/Education Programs for Adults
ENL (English as New Language) & ENL for Citizenship In 2008 our ENL classes more than doubled in number, we had 26 students register and pre-test for place-ment. Of the 26 students 14 finished their course work and post -tested an average of 4 points higher (after one eight week session). As we came into March, 2008 we realized that our Citizenship students were not sufficiently prepared for their citizenship exam because of their English. Therefore, we began our ENL for Citizenship course. In 2008 we had 47 students all placing at different levels of English preparation (6 in ad-vanced level, 24 students pre-tested at the intermediate level and 16 pre-tested at the beginner level). 71% of the students failed the pre-test citizenship exam, but after finishing the 12 week course, we had 75% of the students pass the exam. We have had 6 students, after taking our course, become citizens of the United States, and 2 students in process, with interviews scheduled.
CONGRATULATIONS!! Juan Botello, Juan Botello Jr., Santos Arellano, Esperanza Reyes, Angel Naranjo, and Jesus Bernal.
“I liked the content of the class and I feel that everything was covered, although I feel I need to work more
on my writing skills. ” -Sra. M.C. Delgado-
ENL students
GED students
ENL for Citizenship students
GED in Spanish Our GED program is another popular literacy / education program. We had 33 students par-ticipate in our GED program in 2008. Each ses-sion runs twice a week for 5 months. After the session is complete the students receive 2-3 weeks of additional tutoring in math before tak-ing their GED exam.
Congratulations To All Our Graduates!!!!
ENL funded in part by United Way
Page 6 Our Literacy/Education Programs for Adults cont.
Computer Literacy Our Computer literacy classes continue to be one of our most popu-lar programs. We have a continual waitlist, as one class finishes another begins. Each basic computer class session runs about 3 months with 9 students registering for each class (total 18 per ses-sion). In 2008, we had 30 students finish their basic computer train-ing. Our advanced class usually has 4-5 students in each session, and each session runs 3-4 months. In 2008 we had 2 sessions of ad-vance training with 7 students. 2009 will offer web design in the advance classes. Computer Literacy funded in part by Real Services.
Strengthening Families This parenting skills/conflict resolution course is unique in that it is offered in Spanish. There are 3 basic goals: (1) Improve family relationships through improved communication and family prob-lem solving; (2) Improve parenting skills through learning certain skills like behavior modification, conflict resolution, and appropriate discipline techniques; (3) Increase the youth social and life skills by identifying and rewarding appropriate behaviors, how to manage stress, and conflict reso-lution skills for youth. 2008 brought 16 families to our Strengthening Families program, and of these families 75% re-ported improved family communication after 12 weeks. 60% reported improved parent-child rela-tionships, and all our families reported practicing at least one learned skill in class at home.
“It was a great learning experience and we have been working on our communication. Before the course we would eat in different parts of the home and now we eat at the table as a family and talk about our day, we also have started having family meetings. These things so far have helped us in building a good relationship in our home” -Sra. Aurora Flatoff-
Strengthening Families funded in part by United Way and TJX.
Fiesta Michiana 2008 Page 11
We continued Fiesta Michiana 2008 at the Upper Deck with our Silent Auction/Dinner event on Friday, August 8th. We had a wonderful Latin dinner designed and cooked by the great
people of The Upper Deck. At dinner we then had Latin music performed by a Trio (Benny, Tico, and Ben), followed by our guest speaker, National LULAC President Rosa Rosales,
who spoke on the topic of “Humanity Knows No Borders”. The evening progressed with two awards being presented; the first was our Volunteer Award that went to Whitney Drake. Our second award of the evening was our Humanitarian Award
which went to Greg Chavez. These two wonderful people have given so much to our commu-nity, donating their time and talents to benefit La Casa de Amistad and all the people we
serve. The evening ended with baseball and fireworks. It was a great time.
Our three day event culminated at Century Center on Saturday, August 9th with the dance of the year. Our evening began with local band, Los Hermanos Bueno. We then continued to dance with our new friends from Michigan, Banda Tierra Negra and Texas band, Am-bixion. Our gala finished in grand fashion with inter-nationally known, grammy award winning Norteno performer Michael Salgado. Fiesta Michiana 2008 was a hit, and it was all due to our sponsors and community. You all made it possible to raise more than $15,000 for La Casa de Amistad. Gracias.
Gracias, Comcast, United Beverage Co., St, Joseph Regional Medical Center, Veldman Auto parts, Inc., Wilma and Pete Veldman, Stripco, SBPD, and Metro Beverage, Inc.
Fiesta Michiana 2008 Page 10
La Casa de Amistad’s Fiesta Michiana 2008 was bigger than ever; it was a three day celebration. It
brought people from all over the United States, from places like; Chicago, Hammond, Plymouth, Fort Wayne, Florida, Texas, and Boston. Our guest speakers and musicians were internationally known,
and our sponsors list doubled. We celebrated with more than 600 people at our dance at Century Center; and our dinner/auction at
the Upper Deck was sold out (150 people). In addition in 2008 we included a third day of baseball at Coveleski Stadium. Our community really came through in supporting this wonderful event and sup-
porting La Casa de Amistad.
Fiesta Michiana began with baseball at Coveleski Stadium on Thursday, August 7th ( “Fiesta at the Cove”). There was music, dance, informational booths, and of course, baseball. Our Latino little
league players were asked to participate in the opening program, and our founder Fr. John
Phalen threw out the first pitch. It was a great
“FIESTA AT THE
COVE”
Page 7 Our Food Pantry
MONTH Total Total Families Individ.
January 156 521 February 166 606 March 205 745
1st. Q.Total 527 1872 April 189 706
May 163 559 June 208 696
2nd Q.Total 560 1961 July 257 883 August 247 800 September 211 719 3nd Q.Total 715 2402 October 285 920 November 242 776 December * 184 637 4th Q.Total 711 2333
TOTAL 2513 8568
* This month we closed the last 2 week
01002003004005006007008009001000
Family & Ind.
Month
Pantry 2008
Fam.
People
Food Pantry funded in part by United Way.
Thank You to Granger
Community Church, The Unspo-ken Word, Northern Indiana Food Bank, and our community donors.
We fed over 2,000 families be-cause of your generous
donations.
Page 8 Our Social Services and Volunteers
La Casa de Amistad Social Services La Casa de Amistad, for 35 years, has provided its clients with an all important one on one contact. The
warm atmosphere has brought thousands of people through our doors for years. 2008 was no different, as a matter a fact we served double the clients of 2007.
Number of Families
Registered as a client
# of Clients for Notary &/or Translation
# of immigration or legal assistance referrals
# of Other
Referrals or
Contacts Made
Total contact # for 2008
941 89 352 2,509 9,831
# Contacts for a
Program
5,409
# of Employment
referrals
166
La Casa de Amistad Volunteers
“Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got,
but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go. “ –Mother Teresa-
Number of Registered Volunteers
Number of contacts with Volunteers
52 634
Congratulations to our 2008 Volunteer of the year
Whitney Drake
Page 9 Our Partnerships and Donors
We can not do this work alone; there have been many people and organizations providing their expertise, training, guidance, and financial support. In 2008 we spent time strengthening old partnerships and building
brand new ones, because success depends on collaboration and teamwork. I would like to acknowledge our partners and thank them for their support and willingness to working toward
a better community, while helping to provide our families empowering services and programs.
Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center
United Way of St. Jpseph County
Comcast Hispanic Initiative of Memorial Hospital
Memorial Hospital Youth Service Bureau
Institute for Latino Studies Mr. Art Gorman
Family Justice Center AIDS Ministries
Boy Scouts of America Real Services, Inc.
Girl Scouts of Singing Sands Purdue Extension
South Bend Police Department El Campito, Inc
Notre Dame Students Center for Social Concerns Notre Dame
SBCSC Bilingual Department Saint Mary’s College
LULAC Tri Kappa
City of South Bend Granger Community Church
Ziker Cleaners TJX
Dr. Garcia Foundation Wells Fargo Foundations
Veldman Family Community & Alumni
Walmart South Bend Junior League
Community Foundation of St. Joseph County
Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center
United Way of St. Jpseph County
Comcast Hispanic Initiative of Memorial Hospital
Memorial Hospital Youth Service Bureau
Institute for Latino Studies Mr. Art Gorman
Family Justice Center AIDS Ministries
Boy Scouts of America Real Services, Inc.
Girl Scouts of Singing Sands Purdue Extension
South Bend Police Department El Campito, Inc
Notre Dame Students Center for Social Concerns Notre Dame
SBCSC Bilingual Department Saint Mary’s College
LULAC Tri Kappa
City of South Bend Granger Community Church
Ziker Cleaners TJX
Dr. Garcia Foundation Wells Fargo Foundations
Veldman Family Community & Alumni
Walmart South Bend Junior League
Community Foundation of St. Joseph County