CASA Latina Breaks Ground in the Central District

CASA Latina, a Seattle-based social services organization dedicated to aiding and supporting the city’s Latino community, broke ground on its new facility at 17th & S. Jackson this week, amid some controversy.

CASA, currently located in Belltown, acts as a dispatch center for day workers. Dozens of workers wait in or around the facility each morning for pickup by local businesses; in fact, according to CASA, more than 2,000 laborers have registered to work through its program, and more than 1,000 have been placed in full-time jobs. While waiting, workers are invited to participate in free English classes and literacy workshops.

But it’s the waiting that’s getting Central District residents ruffled. Reports the P-I‘s Kery Murakami, following five months of negotiations, CASA and a handful of CD community groups, including the Jackson Place Community Council, have reached an agreement that stipulates “that no day workers would be allowed to hang out on the street and flag down employers.”

The new building, slated to open in early 2009, will allow CASA to expand its language class offerings, as well as its women’s leadership workshops.

The CD News announced the organization’s conversation group for both Spanish and English speakers, which begins its ten-week session tonight at Japanese Cong Church, 305 17th Ave S. Cost: $100 for the ten-week series, which includes a language lesson and a conversation hour.