About Us - Mission and Vision

25th Anniversary

Mission & Vision
Core Values

Crisis Line: 651.772.1611

Mission and Vision
Our Heart and Soul

Our Vision

Latinas, their families, and communities in Minnesota and throughout the world recognize and act to end domestic violence.

Our Mission

Mobilize Latinas and Latino communities to end domestic violence

Our spirit is Latina. Our action is grounded in our beliefs. Our history has led us to a place where we are firm in our convictions and distinctive in our work.

In 1997, as we began our strategic planning process, our mission statement read: "to eliminate violence against women and children in the Latino community and the community at large." It was consistent with the accepted domestic violence model that we saw ourselves as responsible for ending violence against women and children.

Other universally accepted elements of the domestic violence movement include long-term shelter stays; the expectation that victims will leave their partners and divorce; separate services and advocacy for women and children; and prevention work. This approach relies exclusively on systems (e.g., government agencies, law enforcement, schools, and shelters) to create change-such as establishing law and policy.

As we listened to Latinas during the three years of our strategic plan, we heard them clearly saying that they wanted something different--something more--from Casa de Esperanza. Their strongest messages were: 1) they wanted Casa de Esperanza to have a greater presence in the community and 2) they wanted the domestic abuse to stop, but they didn't want to leave their partners and families.

We began to recognize that the "systems" approach that we had been following--along with the entire domestic violence movement--was important but not enough. It imposes itself and "does for" the victim and the community rather than empowering them to change; it also omits the crucial element of community engagement. We wanted to change community attitudes and influence it not to tolerate domestic violence. It was clear that we could not do this work alone.

Our process over four years led us to the recognition that Casa de Esperanza--as an organization--cannot end domestic violence. It is the job of the community, and only its action will accomplish it. This understanding had an impact on every facet of our work. Our Board of Directors approved new vision and mission statements in the spring of 2001 that emphasize the community as the agent of change. We are the facilitators--our role is catalyst.

Our new direction is consistent with the theory of social capital. By promoting connections and networks and injecting education, support, and access to resources, we are facilitating change and community action. We believe that this social movement can expand to change society's norms regarding domestic violence. (We like to use the analogy of the recycling movement. Launched by environmental groups, the movement has had a universal impact on action and values. Most citizens believe in recycling and see it as their responsibility!)