Announcing Cartas de Paz!
As we recently shared, we are relaunching the Casa de Paz pen pal program. As part of that effort, we changed our name to “Cartas de Paz" (Letters of Peace). We think it’s a cooler and more appropriate name, and we hope you agree!
Volunteer resources
We want to remind you of two helpful volunteer resources:
Our Guidelines & Instructions document has links to virtually all of our volunteer resources - including an extensive FAQ document. We recommend that you bookmark it in your web browser so that you can quickly find it.
Volunteer sign-up form: If you or one of your friends would like to sign up to write to an immigrant in detention, you can use the sign-up form to do so.
Commissary support for immigrants in detention
The former pen pal program was mostly on pause for the first 4 months of this year, so the Cartas de Paz coordinator team is sending this letter to all of the immigrants we know in detention. We will also include a $25 money order with each letter so that our detained friends can purchase items from the commissary.
We will start sending the letters and commissary money this week, so hopefully our detained friends will receive the money soon!
Thank you to our new volunteers!
Many thanks to the 13 volunteers who responded to our request to assist the Cartas de Paz coordinator team!
We are training the new volunteers this week, and their assistance with mailing commissary money to immigrants, matching volunteers with people in detention, and numerous other tasks will help to lighten the load for the team.
Speaking of volunteers . . .
In our last message to you, we made a shout out to the folks who have been on the Cartas de Paz coordinator team the last couple years. We somehow forgot to include Nancy Johnson, who each week provided updated information regarding court hearings for immigrants we know in detention.
This was a labor of love for Nancy, and we are happy to say that she will be continuing this practice in the near future.
Cartas de Paz volunteer town hall meeting
As part of launching the Cartas de Paz program, we would love to meet you, share additional updates, and answer your questions. We’re working out the details to do this via Zoom, and will share more soon!
How to contact us
We have created a new email address for Cartas de Paz: cartasdepaz@casadepazco.org.
If you have questions about the program or need assistance, please email us at that address, and one of us will get back with you quickly!
With gratitude,
The Cartas de Paz coordinator team
Also -
Dear Casa Family,
We’d like to share a few changes in Casa de Paz leadership with you. Sadly, we have terminated the services of Sarah Jackson, effective as of March 7, 2022. She no longer makes decisions, payments for or acts on behalf of the organization. We are so grateful for Sarah’s dedication to Casa de Paz and our guests over the last ten years. We wish her nothing but the best in the future. We will have more to come on the decision to transition this leadership in the coming days and weeks in an effort to be as transparent and respectful as possible to Sarah and all of our Casavolunteers and supporters. Stepping into the role of Executive Director effective immediately is Andrea Loya. Andrea comes to Casa de Paz from Children’s Hospital Colorado and has volunteered with Casa de Paz for over 9 years. Andrea also received her Bachelor’s of Science with a minor in Human Services and Nonprofit studies. While she was originally set to join Casa de Pazlater this spring, we are grateful for Andrea’s early arrival in her role. She is working with our Board of Directors to lead us into our next chapter. Casa de Paz retains a board of directors to help steer the organization. Our current Board has been in place since 2021 and was installed by Sarah Jackson. These leaders are committed to the guests and cause of Casa de Paz. In addition to Andrea, this team includes Maria Caro and Claudia R. Villa. We continue to serve the needs of our guests, who are paramount to us through this transition and always. All of our Casa staff are focused on connecting volunteers with our friends being released from detention – serving as companions, welcoming and facilitating stays and transportation as they make their way to their next home. Casa de Paz is committed to our mission welcoming recent immigrants released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention. To best achieve the goals of the organization, and to protect the nonprofit status of Casa de Paz, our volunteers, donors and guests have taken these steps to transition our leadership. We are working with the nonprofit legal experts at Pearson & Paris, P.C. to ensure Casa de Paz’s future is secure. Michelle, our Casa host is leading our volunteers during this time and we urge you to schedule your volunteer shift here or connect with us at info@casadepazcolorado.org Additionally, the Casa needs quite a few supplies to serve our guests. We provided hospitality for over 60 guests just last week! We are planning on having specific donation drop-off dates. We have also updated our Target registry (or copy and paste: https://www.target.com/gift-registry/gift-giver?registryId=f770cb60-a348-11ec-9386-1975a889047d&type=CHARITY) Especially needed are: ● Backpacks ● Water ● Reusable water bottles ● Tooth-brushes ● Shoes ● Travel toothpaste ● Sandwich ● Ham ● Mayo ● Deodorant ● Coffee Cups ● Disposable plates We hope you’ll remain committed and connected to Casa de Paz and our guests. Please let us know your continued interest here: info@casadepazcolorado.org or through https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4CA4A82AA6FEC25-thewelcomeIf you have any questions regarding this transition, please reach out to Andrea Loya at Andreal@casadepazcolorado.org Thank you for your support. Our work is just as important today as it was when we began 10 years ago. Sincerely, Casa De Paz Board
https://www.casadepazcolorado.org info@casadepazcolorado.org (720) 515-6732 