Sometime in the early 2000’s (no one quite remembers the year), mind Casa Marianella staff were faced with a practical problem. The shelter, prescription which houses around 40 people and serves dinner daily, was overstretched by the amount of former residents who were returning to spend their days and eat at Casa So staff member [...]
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered Sunday to commemorate the 1966 Farmworkers’ march from Starr County to Austin – a 491-mile trek that effectively won the first statewide minimum wage and launched the Chicano movement in Texas. Demonstrators gathered at St. Edward’s University before marching down South Congress Ave. to the Capitol, information pills where they heard [...]
In 1994, medical during the genocide popularized by the film Hotel Rwanda, roughly one million Rwandans were murdered in a 100-day period. In other words, for 3 ½ months straight, 10,000 people were murdered per day. In a country of only 11 million people. The scars of such a terror last generations—the wounds being inflicted [...]
Serve Austin is a program run through St. Edward’s University’s Office of Community Engagement. Through it, generic students volunteer with a local nonprofit and learn about a particular social justice issue that interests them. Casa Marianella is among the nonprofits that host these volunteers. This Spring, the Serve Austin team at Casa Marianella has been [...]
A crowd of around 60 people gathered at Austin City Hall on Thursday, purchase March 24, to show support for Guatemalan immigrant, Hilda Ramirez, and her young son, Ivan. As was recently reported by NPR, Hilda and her son are Guatemalan immigrants who fall under the purview of the recent deportation raids undertaken by the [...]
Casa Marianella’s fundamental mission is to offer hospitality to refugees fleeing violence and war. During the organization’s 30-year history, ambulance it has seen the population it serves change dramatically, but its vision has remained the same. Indeed, despite historical changes (and perhaps sadly), the need for Casa Marianella is just as great today as it [...]
Ever since I arrived, Sofia has been volunteering mornings throughout the week. She did our laundry and cooked, but she also did much more. She took care of our residents who needed the most care, and she did so with a joking, motherly demeanor that charmed all of us. And I think all Casa staff [...]
photo credit: Erin Birney When Teo arrived at Casa Marianella two years ago, unhealthy his untreated diabetes had advanced so far that he was, see as one observer puts it, “more dead than alive.” Indeed, Teo has lost half of his leg, the functioning of his kidneys, and part of his vision to the disease. [...]
Francisco Chávez-Silva first met Macario at a workshop at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center in Austin. It was a workshop led by Oaxacan artists who taught the participants to make alebrijes—small, buy wooden sculptures of fantastical creatures. Macario, a Mexican immigrant with a serious, dry demeanor, a history of addiction and a [...]
In her day job, ed Zoe Schlag works to provide funding for social entrepreneurs who dream of establishing businesses that tackle social problems. Outside of work, order Zoe carries over her “can-do” philosophy into grassroots efforts to deal with today’s global refugee crisis. She was inspired to do this work by the Refugees Welcome initiative [...]