Casa Inc

Programs: Community economic development:- workforce development and vocational training: casa connected workers with employers seeking short-term help and delivered placement services for full-time employment; partnered with local community colleges to offer a range of vocational training courses; and partnered with the u. S. Department of labor to offer occupational safety and health trainings to workers in high-risk industries.

health and human services:- naturalization and legalization: with support from americorps, casa operated a comprehensive citizenship promotion program in maryland which includes citizenship education, mentoring and interview preparation, application assistance, and post-naturalization support. Through partnerships with credit unions, casa provided microloans to assist citizenship and legalization applicants in affording application fees. Continued on schedule "o". - financial education and assistance: casa provided tax preparation, individual counseling, and workshops on financial literacy topics. Local banks visited casa's centers to help members open accounts. Casa also provided driver's license education and assistance. In partnership with the irs, casa also operated several volunteer income tax assistance (vita) clinics. - legal services: casa provided "know your rights" legal education, advocacy, and representation to low-income immigrants on both civil and criminal law, and engaged in impact litigation. Casa also provided assistance in response to immigration raids or detentions by assisting victims in securing legal representation and reuniting with their families. - community access and health promotion (cahp): casa operated a health promoter program as well as a trilingual hotline and medical interpreters program. Casa also implemented a massive health insurance enrollment campaign for both the affordable care act and kaiser permanente's charitable health insurance program. - social services and counseling: casa provided case management assistance to connect members with social services and public benefits aimed at improving their physical and mental health and increasing social stability.

community organizing:- casa conducted widespread regional outreach and organized its members into local committees that develop individual and collective leadership to fight for social justice and human rights. Campaigns included worker organizing campaigns, support for tenant organizations, and campaigns for comprehensive immigration reform.

politics & communication:- politics and communications: casa implemented advocacy and communications strategies at the local, state, and national levels to advance measures identified as priorities by its membership, including its community organizing campaigns mentioned above. Casa also implemented nonpartisan voter registration campaigns in virginia and pennsylvania. - community development: casa's fair development campaign brought together a diverse range of partners to promote the preservation of low-income housing and small businesses, and to improve job opportunities related to the construction of the purple line metro rail. With support from the u. S. Department of justice, casa led a langley park crime prevention collaborative, a cross-sector initiative to reduce crime in targeted hotspots. With support from the environmental protection agency, casa launched a housing matters campaign to improve environmental health in multi-family apartment complexes. Schools & education:- learning together: casa operated a two-generation family engagement program providing support to parents from a child's birth onward, and delivered professional development to prince george's county public schools (pgcps) teachers. - community schools: casa partnered with pgcps and internationals network for public schools to provide wrap-around support services at two international high schools in prince george's county. - adult education: casa offered instruction in english for speakers of other languages (esol) to more than 1,200 adults, and also provided courses in computer and spanish literacy. Casa baltimore:- casa operated mi espacio, a school leadership and enrichment program for latino high school aged students in baltimore city, complemented by an "escalera" college access program. Casa also provided leadership development programming at the major esl schools in baltimore utilizing the spirit (student problem identification and resolution of issues together) model of the department of justice. - campaign for justice safety and jobs in baltimore: casa organized a coalition of national and local partners to address the systemic social, racial, and economic injustices that were brought to national attention following the death of freddie gray in baltimore police custody in spring 2015. Casa de virginia:- economic justice organizing: casa expanded its community organizing program in virginia, building and cultivating a set of leaders and a volunteer structure that worked on campaigns in virginia for tenants' rights, driver's license access for immigrants, and for an increased minimum wage. - social services and health care access: casa provides general social services navigation assistance to members as well as assistance in enrolling in kaiser permanente's chap health insurance program for those who qualify. - americorps financial literacy & naturalization program: casa provided naturalization assistance and financial literacy counseling for low-income latinos in virginia through a partnership with americorps and the virginia office on volunteerism and community services. Casa hosted 16 americorps members providing these services. Lobbying:casa conducts lobbying within the limits of its 501(h) designation at the local, state, and federal level on legislative issues that improve the quality of life of its constituents. Legislative and policy priorities in the past years include passage of an increase to the minimum wage, passage of maryland trust act, opposing anti-immigrant bills, zoning and policy changes on community development issues, and comprehensive immigration reform. Casa provides testimony, written and oral, for many bills affecting its constituency, and also conducts direct lobby visits and public actions.