Small & Gutsy features Su Casa

Su Casa in Spanish simply means your home - which if I take a little poetic license, could mean this space is your home or the contraction you’re, you are home - let’s go with you are home… The concept of home is something many of us often take for granted! Home can mean we can breathe, let down our hair, and be ourselves, and in general, we are in charge of our own lives, decisions we make, etc..for many, though this doesn’t exist or feels completely unattainable, not because it isn’t, but because there are life-threatening circumstances that create an almost insurmountable barrier. I recently did a podcast for another organization that focuses on global preservation by sharing information about what is happening to our global ecosystems and the individuals and animals who are being negatively impacted by being displaced or for some, the threat of extinction. We as a society are experiencing a wake-up call; a wake-up call to pay attention to preserving and rebuilding our ecosystems and a wake-up call to the realization that our domestic environments can also be threatening and threaten, most often women and children. 

Su Casa is a healing sanctuary where victims - I prefer the term, survivors, can find their voice, develop inner strength, and become self-directed agents of change in their own lives. Su Casa has been around for over 40 years and was founded in 1979 by Petra Medelez, a survivor, who out of her own home took crisis calls and housed individuals being threatened and their children. Petra’s vision was to fill her community with peaceful homes. In order to truly realize her vision, Su Casa expanded its services to include not only immediate shelter from danger but also case management and counseling for residents and for survivors still living with their abuser or batterer, shelter-based certified childhood education, community awareness training, and transitional housing. 

Su Casa continually strives to be present and relevant to the folks who are in need and therefore has enhanced their programs to include the growing number of Asian and Pacific Islanders. The value placed on empowerment and cultural competence drives the agency’s ever-expanding range of services that are survivor-centered. These services are practical, therapeutic, and educational.

Su Casa is also forward-thinking: they realized that 30 days may not be enough for women to be empowered enough to put their lives back together so more than 25 years ago, in 1996, transitional shelter was developed and is still being offered. The extended time enables families to bridge the gap between crisis and independent living. What I particularly like is Su Casa’s commitment to offering support wherever a woman is along her journey to safety; if she is not ready to leave, Su Casa is there to provide counseling and support and is available whenever she might be.

Su Casa’s  Mission is to empower individuals and families to live free from domestic abuse and build partnerships with communities to end domestic violence.

Our wake-up call is to pay attention to those who may be asking for help and to connect them to resources like Su Casa

Website: www.sucasadv.org