Casa Marianella Staff
Jennifer Long
Co-Executive Director
Originally from Dallas, TX, Jennifer Long has been the director of Casa Marianella since 1998. Jennifer’s initial training and inspiration in homeless services was a year of service with the Los Angeles Catholic Worker in 1978. She received a degree in Social Philosophy from UC Santa Cruz and a Masters degree in ESL from UT Austin.
Patti McCabe
Co-Executive Director
Patti is from Austin, Texas. She attended Boston College and studied Psychology. She has traveled to Spain, Mexico and Italy. Her favorite destination so far is Mexico City. She decided to work at Posada to return the gift of hospitality to newcomers in need.
Melissa Buhrt
Managing Director
Originally from Indiana, Melissa started her journey at Casa Marianella in 2009 as a Keep Austin Housed Americorps member. Before coming to Austin, Melissa earned a degree in International Studies and Spanish from Indiana University Bloomington. She also attended Lauterstein Conway School of Massage and is a licensed massage therapist. She has studied in Barcelona, Spain and Costa Rica. She has traveled throughout Europe and Mexico. Melissa enjoys learning from Casa residents and community members and is constantly inspired by their strength and resiliency. She continues to to work at Casa because she loves the community that continues to grow and change. She wants to be a part of a community focused on welcoming immigrants.
Paula Blaha
Paula Blaha grew up in many places and came to Austin after high school to pursue a music degree from U.T., where she studied organ with Frank Speller and eventually received degrees in computer science and linguistics. She has lived for a month or two at a time in Tunisia, Egypt, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, and Mexico, and has traveled through many parts of Europe and Mexico.
Mercedes Wanguemert-Peña
Chapman College
Political Science – such a long time ago!
Julian Root
Julian grew up in Philadelphia, and worked as a musician and bicycle messenger. He later moved to Guatemala, where he spent four years managing a used bookstore and playing in the country’s only bluegrass band. He began volunteering and later working at Casa Marianella after returning to the US in 2019, keenly aware of the social divide in Guatemala which privileged his life there.
ESL Coordinator
At Casa since 2014, our ESL Coordinator brings a background of teaching English, Spanish, ESL, and intercultural studies in public and private schools (high school & middle school, college, adults), corporations, and nonprofits in the US, Latin America, and Spain, as well as working with international students and volunteer teams, leading cross-cultural service projects, and coaching. Has multiple teaching certificates and graduate degrees and is a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). Our ESL Coordinator loves working with and equipping our dynamic, dedicated, and creative teachers, as well as contributing to all of Team Casa!
Laura Smith
Laura has a background in volunteering & advocating in shelters, with immigrants, and in Latin America since 1989. Most recently, she volunteered at Posada for ten years, doing Blessingways for pregnant moms and guiding new moms and their newborns in the early postpartum period. Working at Casa with a staff & clientele of determined, smart, caring, multilingual people is an exciting new adventure for her! She looks forward to contributing and growing in equal measure.
Justin Davis-Metzner
Neo-Austinite Justin is kind of bummed that he missed the real weirdness. He has managed to rationalize the Juneteenth paradox and even develop a taste for the swamp water coming out of local faucets as he settles into the Casa community. He is pleased as Punch to have found a place where his polyglotish ways don’t come off as putting on airs but, rather, serve an important role in making newcomers feel welcome.
Karen Dale Wolman
Grants Manager
Originally from New York, Karen Dale Wolman’s activism started in L.A. during the ACT-UP and Queer Nation days. She then went to work for a mostly gay Latino AIDS organization, wrote a couple of novels, taught college and found grant writing as a way to support nonprofits. As her grandparents and great-grandparents left Eastern Europe when it was very unsafe to be Jewish in that part of the world, the work of Casa Marianella is dear to her heart. Karen earned a Master of Professional Writing from the University of Southern California and a B.A. in Communication Arts and Media from Queens College, City University of New York.
Katie Tallman
As a child, Katie traveled to other far off places in the world through books. Her curiosity about the world led her to study International Studies and spend a year in Mexico studying Spanish in university. After graduating, she traveled to South America where she lived for five years and worked as an English teacher. Having found her way back to the U.S., she is grateful to be a part of the Casa community and part of immigrants’ and new community members’ lives
Olivia Amore Petipas
Olivia started at Casa Marianella after graduating from Colorado College in 2021. There she studied Spanish Literature and Race, Ethnicity and Migration Studies. Throughout her studies, she participated in sanctuary and accompaniment movements in Colorado Springs and worked as a legal assistant for detained immigrants at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. Olivia is grateful for the opportunity to work against the U.S. deportation machine and accompany asylum seekers in Austin alongside her lovely co-workers. Outside of work you are likely to find Olivia in the garden.
Cindy Hall
Ever since being offered the choice to learn French or Spanish in middle school, Cindy has pursued her interests in foreign language learning. Having decided to go the French route, Cindy pursued French classes through middle school, high school, and college where she earned her undergraduate degree in French from the University of Oregon. Having lived in France twice for a collective total of 16 months, Cindy was looking forward to finding multicultural opportunities in the USA. Originally from California, Cindy has spent the last 13 years living in the Pacific Northwest immersed in rain and missing the sun. Luckily, in the pursuit of sunshine and French language opportunities, Cindy found Posada Esperanza, a place to rest her rain soaked feet that also gives her the privilege of being able to help immigrants in the Austin community.
Lina Franco
Lina grew up in Colombia and became an Asylee in the United States at the age of 13. She is a case manager at Casa Marianella and has a deeply strong connection to Casa’s purpose, staff, and residents.
Sarah Rutherford
Sarah grew up in Dallas and went on to study Religious Studies at Texas A&M University with minors in French and Sociology. She has long been interested in immigration and advocacy, and she was fortunate to find Casa Marianella when volunteering with a student organization during undergrad. She now works part-time at Casa Marianella while attending graduate school at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
Sonja Engelstad
Originally from Iowa City, Iowa, Sonja began her Casa Marianella journey as an AmeriCorps member in 2021 after spending five years living and working in Argentina. She studied English and Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado Denver and utilized her degree to teach English as a second language in Rosario, Argentina while studying Spanish at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Sonja always had the idea in the back of her mind to utilize her experiences and dedication to service to return to the U.S. and “help people at the border.” Landing at Casa Marianella has been all that and so much more. Sonja will utilize her penchant for organization in her new role as Administrative Director and hopes to learn and absorb as much information as she can from this beautiful community.
Glenda Sanchez
Glenda is originally from East Texas (Nacogdoches) and she studied at Texas State University, where she earned her bachelors in social work and is now pursuing her masters in legal studies. She plans to use her educational background in social work and legal studies to work with migrant populations in any way she can. She always had an interest to work with immigrants and refugees as she comes from a family of immigrants herself. She found Casa Marianella through Texas State and she began to intern at Casa in Spring of 2022. She enjoyed the work so much that she stayed and is currently taking on the role of Donations Coordinator and Case Manager.
Emelly Carvajal
Emelly is a first generation Mexican American, and she received her bachelors in Social Work from Texas State. She is currently enrolled in the Masters program in Legal Studies at Texas State. She started at Casa Marianella as an intern, but her love for immigration grew and inspired her to enter the legal studies program to learn more about immigration law and reform.
Gabriel Salgado
Gabriel has been part of Casa, working in the benefits office, since the summer of 2022. He graduated from Lafayette College in 2020, volunteering in refugee resettlement during his time there while majoring in film and media. He loves watching and analyzing movies, playing ultimate frisbee, reading comics, and whenever it’s even a slightly clear night sky he’ll go through yet another bout of wishing he knew more about astronomy. Born and raised in Austin, Texas, he is grateful for the ability to do the work of the benefits office.
Posada Esperanza Staff
Inna Grudtcina
Inna was born and raised in Vladivostok, Russia. Over the last 18 years, she has been working as a dance teacher, and choreographer, and has performed in Russia, China, Spain, South Korea, and Jerusalem. She moved to the US in 2013 and in the first few years faced a lot of challenges as an immigrant. She knows for a fact that being an immigrant makes one very vulnerable and insecure. Without professional support and guidance, the assimilation process can take a very long time. She feels privileged to work at Posada Esperanza. Her main goal is to help bring more peace and clarity into immigrants’ lives and help them apply their skills and talents to eventually become self-sufficient members of the community. In her free time, she hangs out at coffee shops, meets with friends and takes care of her 1-year-old daughter.
Jeannette Doumbe
Americorps staff member – bio coming soon!
Benny Rangell
Benny is the medical advocate for Abri Lumiere. He grew up in Santa Cruz CA and was based in the San Francisco Bay Area until moving to western Massachusetts. Benny holds masters degrees in Translation Studies and Middle Eastern Studies, and is excited to learn more about connecting Casa residents to health-related services here in Austin.
Abri Lumiere Staff
Spencer Foster
Diana Piña
Perla Ortiz
Perla was born in México and raised in a small town 30 minutes east of El Paso, Texas. She studied Spanish Linguistics and Chicanx and Latinx Studies at St. Edward’s University as a College Assistance Migrant Program Scholar. She also studied Entrepreneurship and Leadership through the Women’s Initiative for Entrepreneurship and Leadership Development incubator program at the University of Texas at Austin where she got the opportunity to travel to Spain, France and Italy. With a passion for languages, culture and social justice, Perla found the opportunity to serve at Abri Lumiere by helping people within the immigrant community transition to a life of stability. In her free time she loves playing and watching fútbol, mentoring students of any age trying to navigate the education system in the U.S., playing guitar and attending church with her friends.
Inaiana Costa Gama
Inaiana Costa Gama was born and raised in Brazil, immersed in Afro-Indigenous Brazilian culture, which profoundly influenced both her personal and professional life. She graduated in Psychology in 2017 and pursued a career in social work while also practicing as a therapist. Throughout her career, Inaiana has focused on marginalized groups whose rights are often violated, such as women, children facing domestic violence, and people experiencing homelessness. Her work is driven by a commitment to social justice and empowering those in need. In her free time, Inaiana enjoys reading, writing poetry, painting watercolors, and playing the pandeiro and tambor (types of Brazilian percussion instruments). These activities serve as creative outlets and allow her to further connect with her cultural heritage. Inaiana remains a passionate advocate for social causes and a dedicated professional in her field, striving to make a positive impact on the lives of others through her work and artistic endeavors.
Maryam Chilipachi
Maryam was born and raised in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, and holds a degree in Philosophy and Ethics from the University of Dar Es Salaam. While in Dar, she was engaged in the music & creative arts world and in underground LGBTQ+ activism. After moving to Austin in 2022, she first volunteered with Mama Sana and Asian Family Support Services of Austin, and explored the world of social work centering immigrants and families of color. Maryam later reconnected with her creative outlet working as a DJ at Sahara Lounge, spinning Afro-influenced music. While working another job at the Asian American Resource Center, she came across Casa Marianella and fell in love with the mission. At Abri Lumiere now, she is especially passionate about taking care of the physical house for our residents, creating personalized DJ playlists for shelter celebrations and ensuring all residents are well taken care of. Outside of work, Maryam loves taking care of horses, curating personalized DJ playlists, listening to various types of music, and exploring delicious cuisines.
Max Lewis
Max is from Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Columbia University in May 2024 with a degree in Psychology. His interest in working at Abri Lumiere grew from his experiences tutoring children of recent immigrants in Harlem, along with similar service experiences across the U.S. and abroad. He’s excited to continue this work and learn from the stories of newcomers to the U.S. In his free time, Max enjoys watching movies, reading, and going for runs — usually to blow off steam after yet another disappointing performance from his favorite basketball team, the Phoenix Suns.
Mary Richardson-Perez
Mary has always had a passion for new experiences and places, given that her family was quite nomadic before settling in Nashville, TN. In her 20s, she backpacked around the world twice, pausing in India for extended stays, which is when she fell in love with Eastern philosophy, Indian culture and yoga. Upon returning to the United States, she moved to Austin and finished a BA at the University of Texas focusing on Studio Art (painting). She continued her studies at UT in the South Asian Studies Department focusing on Indian Philosophy/Culture and Sanskrit. Alongside teaching yoga and meditation, Mary has always been fulfilled by advocacy and social justice work. She is currently enrolled in a graduate program for social work and will complete her degree in May, 2025. She is eager to support Casa Marianella’s mission. She feels deeply for the families at Abri Lumiere and is passionate about combating the injustices they face with Abri’s amazing team and resources.