Casa Latina, Inc.

2009 Reencuentro

Please join us at our 10th annual Reencuentro which is a chance for members of Hampshire County’s Latino community to give feedback and help direct the work of Casa Latina.

When: Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009@ 6:00
Where: Florence Community Center [map]

We will talk about our work in the past year and plan 2010. Food will be served.

Casa Latina is awarded grant to close gap on health disparities among Latinos

This September Casa Latina was awarded a two year grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA Foundation to fund the “Bridges to Latino Health/Puentes a la Salud Latina.” project.  After completing a needs assessment phase called “Closing the Gap on Health Disparities among Latinos in Hampshire County,”  Casa Latina will offer a project that will target both health providers and Latino consumers. 

Our integrated strategy includes the deployment of certified bilingual Community Health Workers (CHW) working primarily with two large primary care practices- Valley Medical Group and Northampton Area Pediatrics.  The purpose of the CHW is to improve access to and increase utilization of primary health care, and reduce health disparities by serving as the ‘bridge’ between clients in the needs and health care services.  The CHWs will also offer educational groups on health topics to the Latino community and Chronic Disease Management groups. 

In addition, Casa Latina will be offering  staff training for health providers and partner agencies on such topics as Latino culture, health education materials for bilingual and low-literacy audiences, and organizational strategies to create a more ‘Latino-friendly’ environment.

Finally, Casa Latina will be facilitating a broader Partnership Coalition of providers, consumers and local service agencies. Our agency partners include – ServiceNet, the Hilltown Community Health Center and Cooley-Dickinson Hospital will serve on the Partnership coalition with VMG and NAPEDS. Through a combination of these efforts we will be increasing the community’s understanding of the root causes of disparities and the community’s role in helping to shape local solutions.

Latin Dance Party

Celebrate 40 Years of Casa Latina at our Latin Dance Party

When: Friday, May 29th at 7pm
Where: The Garden House at Look Park, Florence, MA [map] 
Tickets:  $20 each or $150 for table of 10. Call us at 586-1569.

Food Donated by La Veracruzana
Live Music by Kultura Borikua 
Raffle items donated by local area businesses 
Dance Lessons and a cash bar 

Tres Reyes Magos / Three Kings Day

The Tres Reyes Magos (Three Kings Day) activity is Saturday, January 10th, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m at the Florence Community Center.

See pictures from last year. 

Latino Social Club

The Latino Social Club at Salvo House is starting this week. It will be every Wednesday from March 2008 to September 2008 from 6pm to 8pm.
View Larger Map

Ricardo Barrientos

It is with great sadness that we must report that one of Casa’s former directors, Ricardo Barrientos, passed away this week. As the Gazette reported:

He was a longtime educator in the Northampton school system and later in Springfield. He was a very serviceable and community-oriented person, helping many people and organizations, especially the Hispanic community. He loved his students. He was on the Board of Directors at Florence Saving Bank, was a former member of the Northampton Housing Authority, and was the former acting director of Casa Latina in the 1970s. He was a sports fan, enjoying football and especially basketball. He was a wonderful husband, father, and grampy.  

 The staff and board of Casa Latina offers its condolences to Ricardo’s family. 

2007 Reencuentro

At the 2007 Reencuentro, we honored local politicians and long-time board members in addition to our normal reencuentro activities of updating and getting feedback from the Hampshire County Latino community. The Gazette reported:

The guests of honor were the politicians who helped secure the new grants and three Casa Latina board members who stepped down recently after lengthy terms. The former board members, Dalila Balfour, Paul Hyry and Carlos Santiago, helped guide Casa Latina out of a similar fiscal crisis about 10 years ago, and helped shape the organization’s mission since then, Garcia said.   

Last week’s celebration, called El Reencuentro, was also a chance for members of Hampshire County’s Latino community to give feedback. The event has been held every December for eight years.

Garcia said it was the most diverse Reencuentro yet, with people representing Mexican, Salvadoran, Ecuadorian and Colombian backgrounds.

Garcia said state representatives Peter Kocot, D-Northampton, and Ellen Story, D-Amherst, as well as state Sen. Stan Rosenberg, D-Amherst, and Northampton Mayor Clare Higgins, helped Casa Latina find and apply for grants from the state Department of Health and Human Services, Hispanics in Philanthropy, the Western Massachusetts Community Foundation and Highland Valley Elder Services. 

First Annual Latin Dance

Casa Latina holds its first annual fundraising dance this Saturday (October 6th) from 7 to 11 p.m. in the Northampton Center for the Arts, at 17 South St. There will be Latin dance music, dance lessons, a raffle and silent auction, food provided by area restaurants, and a cash bar. Tickets will be sold from $15 to $25, on a sliding scale, and are available at State Street Fruit Store, Cooper’s Corner, Food for Thought, and at the door. Come out and support Hampshire County’s Latino community. For more information, call Casa Latina at 586-1569.

Casa Latina Receives Grant from Inaugural Fund

Casa Latina was one of the local recipients of a one-time grant from the Gov. Patrick Inaugural fund. The Gazette reported: 

The nonprofits were among 215 in the state to benefit last week from the Patrick-Murray Inaugural Committee Charitable Giving Program. 

The program passes along unused inaugural funds.Stephen Crawford, a spokesman for Gov. Deval Patrick’s political and inaugural committees, said that the committee wanted to foster civic engagement - a major tenet of Patrick’s campaign.

“The mission of the inaugural was to encourage civic engagement,” Crawford said.

Other area recipients included The Amherst Survival Center, The Center for New Americans, and the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.