Today I had the privilege of participating in a site visit with The Women’s Foundation’s Grantee Partner, CASA de Maryland.
As a program officer, site visits are something I do quite a bit, and they’re one of the parts of my job I love the most. What was unique about today’s visit was that, in addition to staff, we had with us a diverse group of donors and Board members from The Women’s Foundation. From CASA’s end, an equally diverse group of staff, Board members, volunteers, and women served by their programs were in attendance.
Seeing women and men from all walks of life in the same room breaking bread together was a great example of something at which I think The Women’s Foundation excels: We bring together people who, at first blush, may seem to be unlikely allies with little in common–who it turns out are truly like-minded in their vision for social change.
Diversity was definitely a theme of the day.
Our donors and Board members had the opportunity to see evidence of the social change work that CASA is doing in the Langley Park community in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties–where citizens of the world from over 120 countries, speaking even more languages–are represented. With support from The Women’s Foundation, CASA is helping place immigrant women on pathways to better economic opportunity.
For example, just in the last few months, CASA has assisted over 60 women in getting hired for nontraditional jobs in leaf collection—moving from $12-an-hour to $18-an-hour jobs that can help sustain their families.
But jobs are just one component of the wide range of services CASA provides—from English classes to leadership training to advocacy and organizing. I have the sense that for so many people in our community who hail from so many different parts of the world, CASA is just what the meaning of the word is in Spanish: home—the one place where you always feel welcome.
Perhaps it is my own immigrant roots, but that is definitely the feeling I have every time I visit CASA.