We spoke with one of our wonderful ESL teachers, Camille, about her extensive involvement with Casa Marianella and what she has gained from teaching and interacting with people from all walks of life. What first prompted you to start teaching ESL? I was told about how refugees come from very bad situations in their home [...]
The Power of Community Thank you to everyone who came out to support our efforts to clean up the backyard of Casa Salaam - our newest home for two-parent immigrant families. It has been a long road, but Casa Salaam is finally open to immigrant families, with our first family already moved in. Casa Salaam, [...]
We're thrilled to share that our friend, Nick Ramos, is launching a new project titled 'Build Hope, Not Walls', which will see 150 artists from across the United States coming together in one exhibit October 13-15 at the Big Medium Gallery in Austin, TX. Each artist is creating a brick/a work of art, which will then [...]
We had a fantastic time at our ESL Summer Show and Tell event this past Tuesday evening! As the sun set and the heat subsided, all three levels of students came together in the Level 2 classroom to share their stories, hobbies, photos, and more. The classroom was lit perfectly with twinkling lights, with a [...]
We are beyond thrilled to share with the Austin community that Casa Marianella has been awarded $52,000 to be used to renovate the back house of our newest home for two-parent immigrant families, Casa Salaam. On top of this fantastic news, we are pleased to share that Casa Salaam has also welcomed its first two-parent [...]
Cutter, a well-loved former Casa ESL teacher, recently left Texas for 2 years to travel to Colombia with the Peace Corps. We are very proud of Cutter and the positive change he is making in our world. Our ESL Coordinator asked Cutter a few questions about his experience volunteering at Casa Marianella, and we are pleased [...]
In 1986, Casa Marianella, an emergency homeless shelter in East Austin for immigrants fleeing war and oppression, was donated by Ed Wendler to the Diocese of Austin for use as a shelter. Each year, the Ed Wendler Award for Outstanding Service to the Immigrant Community is presented to an organization that goes above and beyond [...]
The 13th annual benefit for Casa Marianella was nothing short of heartwarming, powerful and inspiring. Held at the Asian American Resource Center, Austinites gathered to show their support for the immigrant community. As an emergency homeless shelter in East Austin serving recently-arrived immigrants and asylum seekers from across the globe, Casa Marianella strives to create [...]
The 4th Annual Awards Ceremony Was A Huge Success! We were thrilled to be nominated for 'Community Champion' at the 4th annual Armadillo Awards this year! We were honored to be listed within the same category as Wheatsville Food Co-op, TacoDeli, and Epoch Coffee for the category. We had a blast at the event, presented by [...]
ESL Students Share Their Stories and Talents! We were so impressed with the amazing stories, photos and talents shared by our residents, ESL students and members of the Casa community- including a few of our ESL teachers and staff members! What we loved most was seeing the confidence exuded by our ESL students. For some [...]