Inspired by ’70s Bronx namesake, La Casita acts as 2nd home in Syracuse
Families, volunteers and students gathered in La Casita Cultural Center on Friday to celebrate the children’s hard work from the semester. It has become a second home for students and volunteers alike. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor
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Stepping inside La Casita Cultural Center is like walking into a blank canvas that has been filled to its potential. Colorful, lively artwork fills the white walls, and homemade piñatas are draped on the ceiling beams.
“(La Casita) is like my second home,” Evelina Torres, Syracuse University senior and La Casita intern, said. “It’s a place where the Latin community in Syracuse and central New York can come together and we really have a lot of fun.”
On Friday, La Casita hosted the “Young Art/Arte Joven” exhibit, showcasing artwork, dance performances and musical numbers created and performed by the children of La Casita. Led by SU students and local artists, the exhibit allowed the children to display their hard work from the after-school programs they participated in throughout the semester.
La Casita was founded in the Bronx to repurpose abandoned warehouses into places for Puerto Rican immigrants to come together. Molded from this rich history, La Casita Syracuse has done the same for the central New York Latino community for almost 15 years.
The Syracuse chapter was established in 2011 as a part of former Chancellor Nancy Cantor’s goal to expand community engagement. The program was founded to connect SU students with the central New York Latino community and expose local children to their heritage through creativity, Bennie Guzman, La Casita’s programming coordinator, said.
La Casita serves students as young as four years old to teenagers. For many children, the cultural and educational workshops are a rare outlet for creative expression.
“It’s their way of showing off their imagination and their creative means through any type of art,” SU senior and La Casita intern Wilson Paula said. “These kids come back from school and sometimes they can come in not too happy or a little sad, and La Casita allows them to express that through the art.”
Many of La Casita’s volunteers have since transitioned to take on more active roles through internships and staff positions. Daniela Dorado, the program’s communications coordinator, began volunteering with La Casita during her sophomore year at SU for her major’s service requirement. Three years later, La Casita has become her second home, giving her a way to reconnect with her Latina culture following her move from Colombia to Syracuse, Dorado said.
For Torres, Dorado and Paula, Friday’s exhibit marks the last time they will work with La Casita before heading for graduation. Though Torres and Paula first joined La Casita for class credit, their time at the center transformed into more than just a volunteer opportunity — it turned into invaluable memories.
La Casita offers a variety of after-school programs for students as young as four years old to teenagers. The program is meant to connect SU students with the central New York Latino community and expose local children to their Latino heritage through creativity. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor
When Torres noticed a student wasn’t participating in a workshop one day, she pulled him aside. The two made paper airplanes together and threw them back and forth. The student had never made paper airplanes before.
“I could see him brighten up again,” Torres said. “ In the past few years, La Casita has taught me patience, but also taught me to embrace joy.”
Before the SU volunteers leave for winter break, La Casita celebrates Christmas with the children with an early visit from Santa and sharing traditional meals. As her time with La Casita wraps up, it’s a memory Dorado said she’ll cherish.
Though La Casita primarily focuses on youth programs, it has since expanded to other ventures. From helping launch the first Spanish-speaking radio station in central New York to hosting art programs for adults, La Casita has brought together members of the Latino community together, just as the original Bronx location did.
SU students demonstrate their respective expertise through La Casita internships. The program gave Dorado the opportunity to hone her communication skills in her position, something she said helped prepare her for a future career in public relations. Majoring in nutrition, Paula has applied his food studies experience to diversify the food served at La Casita.
“I was in charge of making sure healthier snacks were being brought for the students instead of the usual chips,” Paula said. “ It’s proven that children who build healthier eating habits when they’re younger tend to keep that later on.”
Since its inception, La Casita has not only been an outlet for both the children and SU students to explore their Latino culture, it’s become a second home for those who need it — a place to eat familiar foods and speak their native language.
“It has helped (make) my transition into America easier,” Dorado said. “La Casita has given me connections and skills that I hadn’t polished. They gave me a home away from home. They gave me a family.”
