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Casa de Esperanza de los Niños—the House of Hope for Children—is a safe place for children in crisis due to abuse, neglect or HIV/AIDS. Casa de Esperanza provides residential, medical and psychological care to meet the individual needs of each child and offers counseling to the family. |
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Casa de Esperanza |
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Fall/Winter 2004 NewsletterSharing the values of the Casa Community The first Friday of each month the Casa staff gather at the house of the New Hampshire Sisters for a two-hour brunch. With only a few exceptions the entire group comes together—house parents, interns who have just arrived, interns with several months of experience under their belt, the head of the Casa Academy, the Casa attorney, the office staff who keep the organization running and an occasional special long-term volunteer. And the children come as well. Most of the children who are old enough flow out into the picnic and play area, shielded from the street by a tall wooden fence, along with several adults. Littler ones .stay close to their caregivers. Babies are held, admired, passed from one to another or put on pads on the floor where they can stretch and roll around. It is a community with a central focus: the children The staff brunch has been a part of the Casa tradition for almost a decade. Until earlier this year staff members had to take the time to prepare and bring the food. However, Charlotte Orr, a member of the Casa Governing Board and representative of the Junior League of Houston, has taken it upon herself to provide the food, most of which she prepares herself. For Charlotte it is a labor of love, her individual contribution to Casa. Now all Casa staff are freed of meal preparation for this occasion and have the luxury of coming as guests. Informality is the key. People come and go according to their individual schedules. There is no speaker; there are no announcements. Everyone is comfortable. Staff and children mix and mingle. Small groups form to talk about their work and the children—or simply chat. New and old staff come to know each other. Children learn to feel comfortable with adults other than their own caregivers. More than any structured program possibly could, the monthly brunch provides the setting where the values and traditions of the Casa community are shared and reinforced. International Group at a Casa Staff Brunch
Seen at a Casa Staff Brunch were this group of young interns who care for children at the Intake Houses. In addition to all its other values, Casa represents diversity. From left to right are Rosenie (Rose) Thelus from Haiti, Pei-Lynn (Lynn) Foo from Malaysia, Roshan Eddy from India and Anne Volk From Germany.
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