Things to Look Forward To

Save these dates for Fiesta Michiana 2009

“Fiesta at the Cove” Friday, August 7th

Dance @ Century Center Saturday, August 8th

Fiesta Dinner Friday, August 14th

More information to come in May, 2009

La Casa de Amistad Women’s Expo

September 2009

Contact Laura Blankenship for more information

La Casa de Amistad Rummage Sale

June 20th, 2009

Contact Karen Gonzalez for more information or

to make donation

746 South Meade Street

South Bend, IN 46619

Phone: (574) 233-2120 / Fax: (574) 233-2234

Email:

lacasa_deamistad@yahoo.com

Website: www.lacasadeamistad.org

“La Casa Es Tú Casa”

ANNUAL REPORT 2008

LA CASA DE AMISTAD, INC.

Letter from the Director Page 2

I have now been at La Casa de Amistad as the Executive Director for two years. In my two years I have often found reassurance in the words spoken by Mother Teresa; “Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God-the rest will be given.” As many of you already know, raising funds is difficult, especially in this time of great economic distress in our country. But I have found that if we concentrate on providing the best services, programs and sup-port for our clients, the financial support will come. Our community is in such great “poverty”, and I do not speak of finan-cial poverty, although it is included, but I speak of that feeling of being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, and/or forgotten. These feelings are the worse kind of “poverty”, because success can not be realized if we at least do not have faith in who we are and what we can accomplish. This is why La Casa de Amistad is so important to our community and why for 35 years it has provided that secure home for our “poor”. Thank you to the La Casa de Amistad staff, board, volunteers, and do-nors for joining me on this wonderful mission, and I pray that our work will continue to empower many men, women, and children in the years to come. Gracias,

Rebecca Ruvalcaba Executive Director

-Mother Teresa-

La Casa de Amistad Staff & Board Page 15

2008 Office Staff Rebecca Ruvalcaba Executive Director

Maria “Suzie” Balderas Receptionist &Administrative Asst.

Laura A. Blankenship Business Manager

Griselda Marin Maintenance

Karen Gonzalez Volunteer Coordinator

John Yarger Food Pantry Manager

Diana Manriquez Yo Puedo Leer Teacher

Suleima Gonzalez Office Assistant

2008 Program Coordinators

Imelda Dorado Strengthening Families

Sofia Manriquez Strengthening Families

Nancy Flores ENL & Citizenship Instructor

Rafael Marin Computer Instructor

Enrique Oliva Sp. GED Instructor

Xavier Food Pantry Assistant

Alejandro Flores FPU Instructor—English

2008 Board Members

Margo DeMont (President) Jose Alvarez

Michelle Shakour (V.Pres.) Kathy Dvorak

Kevin Sherbun (Treasurer) Louise Anella

Dea Andrews (Secretary) Monsour Eid

Alyssia J. Coates Jennifer Maddox Nancy DeWald Ball Rodolfo Monterrosa Jesusa Rodriguez

2008 Financial Report Page 14

Income: Expenses:Contributions 76,538.00 Occupancy 13,734.85       Grants 194,245.76 Operational  160,216.72     Special Events 31,569.15      Office Expenses 16,236.69       Other Revenues  5,398.00        Program Expenses 82,941.26       

Total Income 307,750.91 Special Events Expenses  11,770.48       Total Expenses 284,900.00

Change in net assets  22,850.91$    

2008 Financial Report La Casa de Amistad, Inc.

25%

63%

10%

2%Contributions

Grants

Special Events

Other Revenues 

5%

56%

6%

29%

4%

Occupancy

Operational 

Office Expenses

Program Expenses

South Bend Junior League check presentation at La Casa de Amistad

Board meeting.

Page 3 Table of Contents

Our Literacy/Education Programs for Children ……………………… Page 4 Our Literacy/Education Programs for Adults ………………………… Page 5-6 Food Pantry ……………………………………………………………... Page 7 Social Services and Volunteers ………………………………………… Page 8 Our Partnerships & Donors ……………………………………………. . Page 9 Fiesta Michiana 2008……………………………………………………… Page 10-11 La Casa de Amistad Fundraising & Events……………………………… Page 12-13 2008 Financial Report…………………………………………………….. Page 14 Board and Staff…………………………………………………………….. Page 15

MISSION STATEMENT

To empower the Latino/Hispanic community within Michiana by providing educational, cultural and advocacy services in a

welcoming, bilingual environment.

Page 4 Our Literacy/Education Programs for Children

Eric and Esteban, of

our Yo Puedo Leer Program, enjoying a nice day outside.

Romeo,of our Crece Con-

migo Summer cultural arts

program, working on a

mask project.

Yo Puedo Leer The Yo Puedo Leer (I Can Read) program is a reading readiness program for preschoolers in Spanish. This program was developed over 20 years ago through the South Bend Bilingual Education Depart-ment, and it was used in the bilingual kindergarten classes for many years. For the last 4 years it has been part of our La Casa de Amistad programming, and it has been used to help our Spanish-speaking preschool children gain the basic language skills before kindergarten; but this year we welcomed non-Spanish speaking children to the class. All our children were exposed to a second language, Spanish and / or English. There are many benefits to having our children learn a second language, like; Cogni-tive benefits ( The latest research has proven that bilingual children have better IQ test scores, as com-pared to monolingual children), character advantages (It increases a sense of self-esteem), curriculum benefits (Bilingual children tend to show a higher performance in examinations and overall tests), cul-tural, and communication advantages. This has been a great experience for all, and we are looking to expand Yo Puedo Leer to include more non-Spanish speaking children in the 2009-2010 program.

Crece Conmigo Our after school & summer program, was full of bright, energetic kids in 2008. Our after school program had 28 children participate in last years tutorial, recreational program. Mr. Art Gorman, retired music teacher, came in, sang with and taught our children piano. We also had many Notre Dame volunteers partici-pate, and give their time in tutoring, project completion and recreation with our kids. Then, our seven week Crece Conmigo summer program consisted of 25 children from 8 -12 years old. It was a program that gave kids the opportunity to express themselves through art, music, and theatre. The South Bend Police Department provided field trip opportunities for our kids, as well as tennis lessons once a week. We also partnered with Youth Service Bureau , Saint Mary’s College, South Bend Civic Theatre, and Memo-rial Hospital in providing empowering activities for our young people. Our children were taught music, health and wellness, play acting and self esteem, along with socialization and just plain ol’ fun. We are truly grateful to all who made 2008 a great year, GRACIAS!!!

Page 13 La Casa de Amistad Fundraisers & Events cont.

Crece Conmigo Summer Program Presentation.

July 2008

Mariposa women’s group Gallery opening at Crossroads.

November 2008

Other Events and Fundraisers:

La Casa Rummage Sale June 2008

La Casa Food Sale October 2008

ND Mendoza Business School Book Sale

August 2008 Cinco de Mayo at Walmart w/ SBPD

May 2008

Page 12 La Casa de Amistad fundraisers & Events

Fischoff performance for Crece Conmigo children.

Spring 2008

Granger Community Church Food Delivery. January 2008

Latina Women’s Expo At La Casa de Amistad.

July 2008

Page 5 Our Literacy/Education Programs for Adults

ENL (English as New Language) & ENL for Citizenship In 2008 our ENL classes more than doubled in number, we had 26 students register and pre-test for place-ment. Of the 26 students 14 finished their course work and post -tested an average of 4 points higher (after one eight week session). As we came into March, 2008 we realized that our Citizenship students were not sufficiently prepared for their citizenship exam because of their English. Therefore, we began our ENL for Citizenship course. In 2008 we had 47 students all placing at different levels of English preparation (6 in ad-vanced level, 24 students pre-tested at the intermediate level and 16 pre-tested at the beginner level). 71% of the students failed the pre-test citizenship exam, but after finishing the 12 week course, we had 75% of the students pass the exam. We have had 6 students, after taking our course, become citizens of the United States, and 2 students in process, with interviews scheduled.

CONGRATULATIONS!! Juan Botello, Juan Botello Jr., Santos Arellano, Esperanza Reyes, Angel Naranjo, and Jesus Bernal.

“I liked the content of the class and I feel that everything was covered, although I feel I need to work more

on my writing skills. ” -Sra. M.C. Delgado-

ENL students

GED students

ENL for Citizenship students

GED in Spanish Our GED program is another popular literacy / education program. We had 33 students par-ticipate in our GED program in 2008. Each ses-sion runs twice a week for 5 months. After the session is complete the students receive 2-3 weeks of additional tutoring in math before tak-ing their GED exam.

Congratulations To All Our Graduates!!!!

ENL funded in part by United Way

Page 6 Our Literacy/Education Programs for Adults cont.

Computer Literacy Our Computer literacy classes continue to be one of our most popu-lar programs. We have a continual waitlist, as one class finishes another begins. Each basic computer class session runs about 3 months with 9 students registering for each class (total 18 per ses-sion). In 2008, we had 30 students finish their basic computer train-ing. Our advanced class usually has 4-5 students in each session, and each session runs 3-4 months. In 2008 we had 2 sessions of ad-vance training with 7 students. 2009 will offer web design in the advance classes. Computer Literacy funded in part by Real Services.

Strengthening Families This parenting skills/conflict resolution course is unique in that it is offered in Spanish. There are 3 basic goals: (1) Improve family relationships through improved communication and family prob-lem solving; (2) Improve parenting skills through learning certain skills like behavior modification, conflict resolution, and appropriate discipline techniques; (3) Increase the youth social and life skills by identifying and rewarding appropriate behaviors, how to manage stress, and conflict reso-lution skills for youth. 2008 brought 16 families to our Strengthening Families program, and of these families 75% re-ported improved family communication after 12 weeks. 60% reported improved parent-child rela-tionships, and all our families reported practicing at least one learned skill in class at home.

“It was a great learning experience and we have been working on our communication. Before the course we would eat in different parts of the home and now we eat at the table as a family and talk about our day, we also have started having family meetings. These things so far have helped us in building a good relationship in our home” -Sra. Aurora Flatoff-

Strengthening Families funded in part by United Way and TJX.

Fiesta Michiana 2008 Page 11

We continued Fiesta Michiana 2008 at the Upper Deck with our Silent Auction/Dinner event on Friday, August 8th. We had a wonderful Latin dinner designed and cooked by the great

people of The Upper Deck. At dinner we then had Latin music performed by a Trio (Benny, Tico, and Ben), followed by our guest speaker, National LULAC President Rosa Rosales,

who spoke on the topic of “Humanity Knows No Borders”. The evening progressed with two awards being presented; the first was our Volunteer Award that went to Whitney Drake. Our second award of the evening was our Humanitarian Award

which went to Greg Chavez. These two wonderful people have given so much to our commu-nity, donating their time and talents to benefit La Casa de Amistad and all the people we

serve. The evening ended with baseball and fireworks. It was a great time.

Our three day event culminated at Century Center on Saturday, August 9th with the dance of the year. Our evening began with local band, Los Hermanos Bueno. We then continued to dance with our new friends from Michigan, Banda Tierra Negra and Texas band, Am-bixion. Our gala finished in grand fashion with inter-nationally known, grammy award winning Norteno performer Michael Salgado. Fiesta Michiana 2008 was a hit, and it was all due to our sponsors and community. You all made it possible to raise more than $15,000 for La Casa de Amistad. Gracias.

Gracias, Comcast, United Beverage Co., St, Joseph Regional Medical Center, Veldman Auto parts, Inc., Wilma and Pete Veldman, Stripco, SBPD, and Metro Beverage, Inc.

Fiesta Michiana 2008 Page 10

La Casa de Amistad’s Fiesta Michiana 2008 was bigger than ever; it was a three day celebration. It

brought people from all over the United States, from places like; Chicago, Hammond, Plymouth, Fort Wayne, Florida, Texas, and Boston. Our guest speakers and musicians were internationally known,

and our sponsors list doubled. We celebrated with more than 600 people at our dance at Century Center; and our dinner/auction at

the Upper Deck was sold out (150 people). In addition in 2008 we included a third day of baseball at Coveleski Stadium. Our community really came through in supporting this wonderful event and sup-

porting La Casa de Amistad.

Fiesta Michiana began with baseball at Coveleski Stadium on Thursday, August 7th ( “Fiesta at the Cove”). There was music, dance, informational booths, and of course, baseball. Our Latino little

league players were asked to participate in the opening program, and our founder Fr. John

Phalen threw out the first pitch. It was a great

“FIESTA AT THE

COVE”

Page 7 Our Food Pantry

MONTH Total Total Families Individ.

January 156 521 February 166 606 March 205 745

1st. Q.Total 527 1872 April 189 706

May 163 559 June 208 696

2nd Q.Total 560 1961 July 257 883 August 247 800 September 211 719 3nd Q.Total 715 2402 October 285 920 November 242 776 December * 184 637 4th Q.Total 711 2333

TOTAL 2513 8568

* This month we closed the last 2 week

01002003004005006007008009001000

Family & Ind.

Month

Pantry 2008

Fam.

People

Food Pantry funded in part by United Way.

Thank You to Granger

Community Church, The Unspo-ken Word, Northern Indiana Food Bank, and our community donors.

We fed over 2,000 families be-cause of your generous

donations.

Page 8 Our Social Services and Volunteers

La Casa de Amistad Social Services La Casa de Amistad, for 35 years, has provided its clients with an all important one on one contact. The

warm atmosphere has brought thousands of people through our doors for years. 2008 was no different, as a matter a fact we served double the clients of 2007.

Number of Families

Registered as a client

# of Clients for Notary &/or Translation

# of immigration or legal assistance referrals

# of Other

Referrals or

Contacts Made

Total contact # for 2008

941 89 352 2,509 9,831

# Contacts for a

Program

5,409

# of Employment

referrals

166

La Casa de Amistad Volunteers

“Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got,

but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go. “ –Mother Teresa-

Number of Registered Volunteers

Number of contacts with Volunteers

52 634

Congratulations to our 2008 Volunteer of the year

Whitney Drake

Page 9 Our Partnerships and Donors

We can not do this work alone; there have been many people and organizations providing their expertise, training, guidance, and financial support. In 2008 we spent time strengthening old partnerships and building

brand new ones, because success depends on collaboration and teamwork. I would like to acknowledge our partners and thank them for their support and willingness to working toward

a better community, while helping to provide our families empowering services and programs.

Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center

United Way of St. Jpseph County

Comcast Hispanic Initiative of Memorial Hospital

Memorial Hospital Youth Service Bureau

Institute for Latino Studies Mr. Art Gorman

Family Justice Center AIDS Ministries

Boy Scouts of America Real Services, Inc.

Girl Scouts of Singing Sands Purdue Extension

South Bend Police Department El Campito, Inc

Notre Dame Students Center for Social Concerns Notre Dame

SBCSC Bilingual Department Saint Mary’s College

LULAC Tri Kappa

City of South Bend Granger Community Church

Ziker Cleaners TJX

Dr. Garcia Foundation Wells Fargo Foundations

Veldman Family Community & Alumni

Walmart South Bend Junior League

Community Foundation of St. Joseph County

Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center

United Way of St. Jpseph County

Comcast Hispanic Initiative of Memorial Hospital

Memorial Hospital Youth Service Bureau

Institute for Latino Studies Mr. Art Gorman

Family Justice Center AIDS Ministries

Boy Scouts of America Real Services, Inc.

Girl Scouts of Singing Sands Purdue Extension

South Bend Police Department El Campito, Inc

Notre Dame Students Center for Social Concerns Notre Dame

SBCSC Bilingual Department Saint Mary’s College

LULAC Tri Kappa

City of South Bend Granger Community Church

Ziker Cleaners TJX

Dr. Garcia Foundation Wells Fargo Foundations

Veldman Family Community & Alumni

Walmart South Bend Junior League

Community Foundation of St. Joseph County