Understanding the mission of Casa De Paz with Alondra Flores

Daisy Ranney Smith 1 March 2023

Casa de Paz is an organization intended to assist people who have recently been released from the ICE immigration detention center in Aurora, CO. Telling us more about the mission of Casa De Paz is Alondra Flores, an executive assistant. Alondra is originally from Jalisco, Mexico and started working with Casa in 2021. The interview took place over the phone and was successful in providing us with more insight in the work of Casa De Paz and their impact on the Colorado immigrant community.

Hello Alondra, thank you so much for talking with me me today. I have some questions that I’m hoping you can help me with.

Hi Daisy, I will do my best and if not I can refer you to another employee who could maybe help you understand better.

Okay great. Thank you so much.

Q: “Is this organization a non-profit and if so, are all of the services offered free of charge?”

A: “Yes we are a nonprofit, Casa De Paz is completely free of charge, and all the services offered are free to our clients.”

That is great, I was unable to tell from your website, thank you so much for clarifying. I think my next question is about the work that is being done at Casa De Paz.

Q: “Could you describe the process of your work to me? What is it you really do? In other words what is the main mission of Casa De Paz?”

A: “We help people who are in difficult situations or don’t have a place to go directly after getting out of detention, so we work with them to figure out the next step, but it is a steppingstone kind of place. Our goal is just to assist them in their process of getting to their final destination whether that means a place to stay for the day, a warm meal, a bus pass or just a phone call. We work to bring people in off the street and can offer them a place to stay for the night. We will provide them with some rubber shoes and a sweater, so they do not have to leave on a cold day like this one with nothing.”

Q: “How long do people tend to stay at Casa De Paz? It seems like it is more of a temporary place.”

A: “Yes, it is just temporary. People tend to stay for only about 5–24 hours after they have gotten out of the detainment centers. They are desperate to call their families and loved ones so we can provide a phone and other services for them.”

Q: “What kinds of places do you see people the most from?”

A: “We see people from Haiti, China, Mexico. From all over the world. I would say that each week we probably see people from around maybe like 20 different countries.”

Q: “How would you describe this kind of work and the impact that it has on the community of Colorado. Do you find it to be rewarding?”

A: “This is rewarding work in terms of what we do, we will have volunteers and I have heard them crying while talking on the phone because they get emotional about the kind of things that they hear from working here. And it is very rewarding for me too, being able to help people after coming from such a chaotic place. Being able to offer them some peace.”

Q: “Are there any clients or people that you have worked with personally that have left an impact you or the organization?”

A: “I think that it is hard to say for that question because their time here is very brief for most of them. “Many of them say that they would donate to Casa de Paz after they have left and gotten a job, but it is really hard to tell if they ever do or where they end up because we don’t usually end up hearing from them again after they left. But sometimes someone will send us an Instagram DM or something thanking us for our work and how we helped them.”

That makes sense. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today, Alondra, Have a great rest of your day.