Every one of the immigrant women we serve has been on a long journey. Well, we have too. It began simply as a dream, back in around 2013 or 2014. Several women, all from Latin America, one herself a domestic violence victim, began thinking about opening a Casa de Paz. The domestic violence victim was familiar with such a place in Chicago. It took a good 5 or 6 years for all the pieces to fall into place. But in early 2020, we opened the house.
Now we are young and trying to make our way in a world that itself has become strange in many ways. Our first 20 months have been spent working out all the details. There are multiple details involved in running a house where residents come and go with dizzying speed. We are learning how to schedule staff and volunteers. We have tried many ways to raise money, during a pandemic that at times prevented us from going out and meeting with groups of people. Bit by bit, we are working out various details of organization: setting up work groups, figuring out where to store donations we receive, finding ways to obtain computers and software, creating a user-friendly web site, conducting performance reviews, reaching out to other local social service agencies, publishing newsletters, and a whole lot more.
It took us 20 months or more to get organized well enough to publish an Annual Report, which you now hold in your hands (or read on your screen). We want you to get to know us, and the good work that we do. We also want to thank all those who, in ways large and small, have helped us get to where we are. Please take the time to read this issue. We think you will enjoy getting to know us.
