Casa Marianella has housed thousands of immigrants over its 30+ year span. It all started in 1986, when the Austin Interfaith Task Force for Central America initiated the project in response to the arrival of refugees fleeing from Central America to Austin. Casa Marianella was donated by Ed Wendler to the Diocese of Austin for use as a shelter. Since then, we’ve been providing multiple services to immigrants in need. Here are a few:

Housing Services

Casa Marianella provides emergency housing services for homeless immigrants coming from all corners of the world; from El Salvador to Mexico, Eritrea to Iraq. We provide shelter, food, clothing, and more to ensure that our residents are well taken care of and feel at home at Casa Marianella.

Legal Services

Casa Marianella Immigration Legal Services (CMILS) provides immigration legal services to our residents, thanks to the support of our wonderful legal team. As our residents arrive from around the world, we’re here to offer assistance as they navigate the often confusing and complicated U.S. immigration laws. This includes applying for work permits, web renewing green cards, more about seeking asylum, petitioning for family members, preparing applications for U Visas and T Visas, and more. If you’d like to donate to our legal office, we are in need of the following:

  • Copy paper
  • Pens
  • File folders
  • Gift cards to office supply stores

You can drop them off at Casa any day from 8am-8pm. Thank you for supporting our legal team!

Oriental Medicine Clinic

The Oriental Medicine Clinic is run by Hector, servicing shelter residents and members of the immigrant community at-large. He provides acupuncture, herbal medicine and nutritional support.

The clinic is available Monday and Friday by appointment.

ESL Classes

ESL classes are run by our awesome ESL Coordinator, and provide the chance for students to practice their English with other immigrants, along with our ESL teachers who are trained to teach ESL courses and are all volunteers. Every quarter, the popular Show and Tell Night draws in people from the community to support our residents as they speak out about their stories, hobbies, talents, and more.

photo credit: ESL Coordinator

Benefits Clinic

Our benefits coordinators and healthcare navigation specialists help clients access affordable medical and mental healthcare services and programs, and other public benefits programs, quickly. Our benefits clinic helps residents access support for the following:

  • Medical insurance and low cost medical care
  • Mental healthcare
  • Vision exams and services
  • Dental exams and care
  • Nutritious food and prenatal care
  • Refugee and asylee-specific benefits, medical programs and health insurance