Blog

Productive Work Day
On Saturday, October 9, 23 volunteers showed up to help with household and yard maintenance chores. 15 of these were assembled by Sr. Margie Nieman of St. Bernard Church. They handled indoor and outdoor tasks, including organizing, sorting, and inventorying linens, toys, and children’s clothing; assembling furniture for the children’s education area; and clearing out […]

Family Support Worker (Bilingual) Employment: Full-time position
Casa de Paz, is a non-profit residential center that focuses on Latina women and children who suffer from domestic violence and who are eager to transform their lives. We seek to provide a culturally sensitive, caring community and temporary home where healing and growth can take place. Residents will participate in a six-month program designed […]

Share the Journey: A Concert for Compassion
Bellarmine Chapel will once again host Share the Journey: A Concert for Compassion on Sept 24th and 25th, 7-9 PM. The concert will be live and live-streamed and will raise funds for three organizations on the front line of working with immigrants and refugees, Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio, Casa de Paz, and the Kino Border […]

Making Tortillas
Pat, pat, pat, tap, tap, tap, pat, pat, pat. There is a rhythm to making fresh tortillas. The hands pat the dough into a perfectly round, beautiful creation. Then, it is placed on a griddle or comal. Once the first tortilla is on the comal, the patting continues with the next tortilla. When both sides […]

One Stitch At A Time
I met Marta* a few weeks ago. She had just arrived at Casa de Paz. Amidst all of the turmoil and sadness of her case and circumstances, she was eager to connect and to show me photos of her cooking, knitting, and crocheting. I was so impressed, that I wanted to learn more. Marta was […]

Bansi Patel Our Newest Intern
My name is Bansi Patel. I am a new intern at Casa de Paz, and I have been here for about a month and a half. From the moment I walked into the home, I knew it was a safe and supportive place. The Executive Director Mrs. Julia Figueroa-Gardner sat down and talked to me […]

Walking In A Child’s Shoes
When my daughter and I invited one of our new families to come outside and garden with us, ten-year-old Raúl came to the steps with no shoes. His mother suggested he go to find them. He went upstairs to his room and appeared again at the steps of Casa de Paz in men’s dress shoes, […]
Newsletter’s Articles

Bellarmine Parish Cares for Casa de Paz Families
The 2022 fall and winter seasons were similar to others for mothers and children who are displaced from their homes. Mothers have little to no money of their own to provide a special meal, activities or gifts for their children. Amid trying times and trauma, Bellarmine Parish stepped in to assist in multiple ways for […]

A Movie Theatre Experience
How many of us with children or grandchildren plan weekend outings around the city? The Cincinnati Zoo, Krohn Conservation and hikes at the Cincinnati Nature Center are just a few of my favorites. Yet, when I reflect on our women at Casa de Paz, they don’t often have the funds, the transportation, the awareness or […]
How Do You Measure a Year?
“It’s been one year since I first came to the United States from Honduras,” Teresa* tells me, eyes wistful. Then: “And I’ve accomplished absolutely nothing since then!” Those pensive eyes fill up with tears, and her face melts into forceful sobs that shake her whole body. Her son, little Sergio*, looks up at her from […]
STORYTIME TAKES ON NEW MEANING
Have you ever gone to story hour at your local bookstore or library? If so, you probably took a little one along with you. Jennifer Linares, our Family Support Worker, created a story hour especially for the moms and their daughters at Casa de Paz. Jennifer selected bilingual story books with colorful illustrations, like Frida […]
Salsa Verde
½ lb.Tomatillos 4 chiles serranos 3 garlic cloves 1/2 bunch of cilantro salt 1/4 white onion Crush garlic and onion in a mortar and pestle. or in a food processor on a light dice with no water. Fill a saucepan with enough water to cover tomatillos and chiles. Boil the chiles for one minute on […]
Pozole Recipe
2 lbs. pork shank (Chamorro) 2 lbs. pork backbone (espinazo) 1 tbsp. salt 2 lb. can of hominy Puree: 4 oz. dry guajillo pack (red) chiles or to taste 1/2 white onion 2-4 peppercorns 3-4 cloves of garlic 1 tsp dry oregano Place the pork and the salt in large pot with enough water to cover it. Boil for […]
MATCHING FUND DRIVE
Near the end of November, most of you will be receiving in the mail an appeal from us. This concerns Panes y Peces (Loaves and Fishes), our primary fundraiser for 2022. We are trying to raise $200,000 to fund our operations for parts of 2022 and 2023. We also ask for contributions to our […]
BONDING THROUGH FOOD
The women who live at Casa de Paz are comforted to be able to speak their native Spanish in their new home, and there are other sources of comfort, chief among them food. They are, by and large, far from the foods of their homelands, and eating the food of another culture is a constant […]

FIESTA LATINA 2022
Fiesta Latina took place on August 8, with over 200 people in attendance. It was a major hit! The program included a testimonial from one of our residents. We followed with a delicious Mexican dinner, a silent auction and the performance of Cincinnati Baila dancers. Special thanks go out to the MC, Diana Lara and […]

DREAMERS AND DOERS
By Daniel Aerni Vice-President, Board of Directors Casa de Paz was founded in 2014 by three women with a dream. They dreamed of a day when Greater Cincinnati would have a residential facility where Latina women and children who had been scarred by domestic abuse could live temporarily, away from their abusers, and […]