In early July, Casa Marianella was excited to give a tour to an international group focused on cross-cultural exchange. The staff were energized to have this group learn about our work and hear about the experiences of the residents at Casa first hand. We gathered several residents to warmly welcome the group. Yet, as the [...]
During a recent Casa shift, I found myself in the middle of an argument between two residents. They were speaking (well, one was yelling) in Spanish, and while I can get by conversationally, I wasn’t quite able to understand what was happening other than that it involved one person taking out another person’s laundry from [...]
Today, we’re sharing just a few incredible resident stories, as part of a longer series from our Case Manager, Lily Dayanim. Lily is a talented photographer and digital storyteller who took the time to interview Casa residents and hear about their often terrifying, challenging and inspiring journeys to the United States. Each story is unique, [...]
This holiday season, the Statesman published an article speaking about one of our beloved former Casa families: Deogratias Niyongabo, 38, his wife, Françoise Irankunda, 39, and their two daughters, Esther, 5, and Brianna, 3, from Burundi. Deogratis and Françoise, who moved into their own apartment with their children after leaving Casa Marianella, were gifted new, [...]
At Casa Marianella, we shelter immigrants and asylum seekers in needs from across the globe: from Iraq to El Salvador, Eritrea to Mexico. We're committed to helping our residents stand on their own two feet again and become fully self sufficient in the ATX community and beyond. American Gateways has been largely impactful for our [...]
At Casa Marianella, we offer many services, ranging from legal support to housing to ESL courses to help our residents get comfortable speaking in English in their new community. Our ESL classes are in the evenings from Monday to Thursday and are open to the greater Austin community. We asked our wonderful ESL students what [...]
We'd like to share a recent example of how your donations are directly helping reunite families separated at the border. Family From Congo Separated at the Border Our home for women and children, Posada Esperanza of Casa Marianella, recently helped reunite a family from Congo. The father and his six year old daughter came to immigration [...]
The following was written by our beloved volunteer Jorge Huerta. He writes about his experiences as a volunteer, helping immigrants at Casa Marianella: --- February 20th, 2018 I close the cycle of participating as a volunteer. I would be in charge of Casa Marienella every wednesday while the staff meetings were taking place discussing evaluations, [...]
March 27, 2018 Another epic Show and Tell Night for the books! The musical numbers were exceptional and I was so captivated by the many gripping and memorable stories told by our dear residents. I was especially moved by Jon’s story. Jon is so dedicated to serving Casa. He has been involved for over 30 [...]
Casa Marianella has been around for over 30 years, founded on the belief that homeless immigrants should have a safe space in our community. To this day, we are the only homeless shelter in ATX dedicated solely to servicing immigrants in need. We work to protect and shelter men, women and children fleeing warn torn [...]