Casa San Jose is a local nonprofit resource organization which provides support and empowerment for underserved Latinos throughout the whole Pittsburgh area. It was founded and built by a group of The Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden in 2013, hence the name which translates to “House of St. Joseph.”. They provide services such as English language learning, tutoring opportunities, legal advice and help, and everything in between. The goal of this nonprofit is to facilitate self-sufficiency and further acclimation in the community for the individuals seeking these services. Services are provided for both families and individuals alike, with the main focus being on the community’s youth. Currently, the center runs on a staff of six people and a growing volunteer strength of approximately 100 people.
Casa San Jose’s main services include aid in navigating health, social, and legal services to both documented and undocumented immigrant and refugee communities. Undocumented immigrants often struggle getting the right health care that should be essential for everyone and Casa San Jose bridges this gap through its services. Casa San Jose has also encountered undocumented immigrants who have experienced work-related abuse by their employers and concurrently combats such incidents by ensuring legal help to those individuals. Ultimately, more than 1,000 people have received necessary services from Casa San Jose that would have otherwise been difficult to find in southwestern Pennsylvania. In addition, the center provides youth tutoring and mentoring programs, rights information meetings, job training and further education referrals, and relevant outreach and events.
The aspect of this culture that is most important in establishing identity and cohesion would be the volunteers. Since Casa San Jose staffs under ten workers, they rely heavily on these volunteers. Whenever I participate in an event, everyone does their duty happily and on their own will. I noticed that most volunteers are also part of other social service and advocacy organizations. I choose to volunteer for this organization as my values perfectly match theirs. They have consistently proven to compassionately and efficiently enforce their motto that everyone will “treated with dignity, respect, and kindness and can freely preserve and celebrate their unique cultures while adapting to their new lives in the Greater Pittsburgh area.”