A Statement from Casa de Esperanza:
On the 35th anniversary of FVPSA, we reflect on enormous and life-changing impact FVPSA funding has supported across the county. With generous and sustained funding from FVPSA Casa de Esperanza’s National Latin@ Network for Healthy Families and Communities (NLN) exists to advance effective responses to eliminate violence and promote healthy relationships within Latin@ families and communities by building bridges and connections among practice, policy and research.
Domestic violence coalitions and programs have provided life-saving services to victims of domestic violence and their children ever since FVPSA was authorized in 1984. In 1982, four courageous Latina activists created Casa de Esperanza in St. Paul to provide a culturally welcoming shelter for Latinas who were experiencing domestic violence. Nearly four decades later, we continue to offer the only culturally-specific emergency shelter (El Refugio), 24-hour bi-lingual crisis line, and family advocacy services in the state. We also are increasingly called upon to provide training, co-advocacy, and resources to other mainstream domestic violence services organizations in Minnesota who are turning to us to help them provide more culturally responsive services for the growing number of Latin@s living in their communities.
In 2019, Casa de Epseranza provided shelter to 61 survivors of domestic violence at El Refugio with an average stay of 63 days. FVPSA is critical to our ability to provide direct services and supports for Latinas and their families living in domestic violence who are risk of becoming homeless, especially monolingual immigrants. Gema called our 24-hour bi-lingual crisis line seeking shelter from the violence she was experiencing from the father of her children. She was also seeking information on how to obtain a civil protection order. Her children had been placed in temporary foster care because of the safety concerns in the home. During Gema’s four months in our El Refugio shelter, our Latina Family Advocates were able to help her obtain a protective order, find employment, receive credit counseling, access therapy for her children and herself, and bring her children back into her care again. After leaving our shelter, Gema was accepted into a scattered-site transitional housing program with rental assistance. Without the support of our Family Advocates and comprehensive services, we don’t know if Gema would have regained custody of her children as quickly and if she would have been able to establish a stable, violence-free home.
The National Latino Network, a project of Casa de Esperanza has demonstrated that survivor-centered approaches grounded in community can address the multi-layered barriers underserved communities face, especially immigrant survivors. The practices that we develop and refine are now lifted up as models for the rest of the country. Our leadership in the field has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which has designated our organization as the only Culturally Specific Issue Resource Center on Domestic Violence and Latin@ Communities. We bring locally built expertise to training, technical assistance, research, and public policy advocacy nationally.