RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Casa Central, one of Chicago's most respected social service agencies, will celebrate its 60th Anniversary during 2014; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of this milestone by Aldermen Edward M. Burke and Roberto Maldonado; and
WHEREAS, Casa Central was founded in 1954 by a group of Hispanic pastors who originally named it the Chicago City Missionary Society and founded the organization to serve newly arrived Mexican, Cuban and Puerto Rican immigrants; and
WHEREAS, A decade later, the Reverend Daniel Alvarez was recruited to become the first Director of Casa Central; and
WHEREAS, The Reverend Daniel Alvarez reorganized the agency, assured its survival and developed new comprehensive social service programs aimed at assisting Chicago's growing Hispanic population; and
WHEREAS, Throughout his 25-year tenure as President, the Reverend Daniel Alvarez guided Casa Central's growth and left his indelible imprint on its success; and
WHEREAS, The Reverend Daniel Alvarez secured restricted and unrestricted funding, appointed the first board of directors and led the agency to become incorporated as a not-for-profit in 1968; and
WHEREAS, The Reverend Daniel Alvarez was succeeded as the head of the agency by his wife, Ann, and together the couple has presided for fifty years of leadership of the organization; and
WHEREAS, Casa Central annually reaches more than 20,000 low-income individuals throughout Chicagoland without regard to ability to pay; and
WHEREAS, Casa Central Casa Central operates 14 social service programs in the largely Latino communities of Humboldt Park, Logan Square and West Town; and
WHEREAS, Beginning in 2011, Casa Central began providing home care services, CNA training and intact family programming to Chicago's Southwest Side communities out of a facility in the Archer Heights neighborhood; and
WHEREAS, Many Hispanic families with language barriers and limited resources and those intimidated by cultural d...
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