Volunteer stories
Disney Days at LaCasa 
LaCasa’s affiliation with Give a Day. Get a Disney Day has led to some new connections! One of our first Disney volunteers signed up with her husband, but he got called in to work at the last minute, so she came alone. Her name didn’t show up on the Verification Page that I have to fill out, and I was worried that she wouldn’t get credit for her work. After many emails had gone back and forth, I learned that she had already volunteered with another agency to get her Disney credit, and she just came to work with us because she wanted to find out what LaCasa is all about! She told us, “I would be more than happy to help out again sometime.” We hope to see her again—after the trip to Disney, that is!
Merit Learning Center
Merit Learning Center has connected with LaCasa, Inc. as a Service Learning partner for the last two years. For much of that time, student volunteers have come out once a week and worked on renovating houses. This year, we are trying something new: LaCasa is looking at new landscaping for Roosevelt Center in Elkhart, and Merit is doing much of the planning as well as the actual work. Last fall, Merit students prepared the soil in designated areas around the property. As the winter weather took hold, local landscape designer Lucie Martin joined the project to teach students about native plants and designing for their best use. Students presented their design ideas to her last week (see picture). Students will also seek donations of plants and will do the actual planting as the weather allows.
Northwestern University
Alternate Student Break is a college program during which groups of students choose to volunteer at designated locations. A group of eight students from Northwestern University came to live in LaCasa’s conference room for a week! They spent most of their days working at the Shoots building, but they found time for a meal with an Amish family, a trip to a festival at Bonneyville Mill, and a stop at Notre Dame on their way home. They even joined us for an All-Staff meeting, where they learned more about the inner workings of LaCasa. To quote our building services staff, “They worked like Wildcats!” LaCasa has enjoyed these visits from both Northwestern and the University of Illinois students during the last three years.
