When the “battered women’s movement” was still young in the late 1970’s, a small group of Latina activists gathered in St. Paul, MN, to educate their communities and advocate for Latinas. Casa de Esperanza incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1982 and opened a shelter.

Here are a few milestones that, in retrospect, were indicators of future priorities and direction:

1989 Began community workshops for Latinas.

1993 Established 24/7 bilingual crisis line.

1995 Produced first product—the film, My Girlfriend Did It.

1999 Initiated listening sessions in the community and launched Fuerza Unida, focusing on learning what was important to Latinas and changing community attitudes about domestic violence.

2001 Approved a new mission statement that identified the community as the agent of change in ending domestic violence.

2004 Hosted our first national conference, Responding to Domestic Violence in Latin@ Communities, in Minneapolis.

2005 Received first Technical Assistance grant from Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), US Department of Justice.

2007 Launched three-year Strategic Plan—a blueprint for moving us to the “next level” of strength, influence and reach; revamped organizational structure to support the Strategic Plan and lay the foundation for expanding our national work.

There’s much more about the progression of our thinking and work in three case studies, available on the Downloads page. Dr. Jodi Sandfort, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, wrote the case studies.