La Casa de Amistad opens doors to new facility for local organizations

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- La Casa de Amistad is hopeful their newest location off of Michigan street will expand their reach throughout Michiana - making them more visible than ever! While construction is not expected to be complete until September, the facility is still ready to get to work by opening up their doors to other organizations in the community.

La Casa de Amistad was established in 1973 to empower the Latino and Hispanic community within Michiana by providing educational, cultural and advocacy services in a welcoming, bilingual environment.

The community center was originally located in a 9,000 square feet location off of South Meade Street and is now expanding to around 41,000 square feet with all the more space to make a difference. This week is marking just the beginning of their goals! The facility is welcoming over 100 teachers for training with the South Bend Empowerment Zone, an organization aiming to transform student achievement and growth over a 5 year intervention program.

While the building is not complete, La Casa de Amistad is eager to give back and drive these partnerships with their latest expansion.

“We have never been able to have the space to bring partners in with us, we have always had to go to others, and we have always had to ask for space. Could we use this, how do we partner, how do we go,” says Sam Centellas, Executive Director of La Casa de Amistad. “And now, we have been able to create a center where we can create, drive and facilitate partnerships, so we are super exited to use this new space to do things exactly like this.”

In the Spring of 2019, the Indiana State Board of Education developed an agreement with the South Bend Community School Corporation to create the South Bend Empowerment Zone. The zone is comprised of the four elementary schools that feed into Navarre middle school.

This week, the zone is working with over 100 teachers for Responsive Classroom training. RC focuses on helping students come to see themselves as capable and strong leaders. This is the first-year middle school teachers will also be receiving the RC training. In total, around 500 teachers take on the mission.

You can find further information about La Casa de Amistad here and South Bend Empowerment Zone here.