About Us
Casita Linda (which means “Pretty Little House”) is a Mexican non-profit organization founded in 2001. We build homes for families who are among the poorest of the poor in San Miguel de Allende, in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico.
Our Mission
Casita Linda creates a dignified, safe and empowering environment that provides a foundation of hope for families living in extreme poverty.
Vision
A San Miguel de Allende in which everyone has a dignified home and hope for the future.
Core Values
Empowerment, Dignity, Respect, Community, Transformation and Compassion.
Our History
In 2000, San Miguel de Allende suffered a particularly harsh winter. The unusual freezing temperatures of this winter caused several deaths in the municipality because of the extraordinarily difficult living conditions in which many rural families found themselves. Jeffrey Brown, a San Miguel resident, stonemason, and graphic artist, with the help of Irma Rosado, a local human-services consultant, secured a small donation and in 2001 formed Casita Linda, A.C., a Mexican nonprofit. From the very beginning, Casita Linda has been a wonderful team of foreigners and Mexicans working together to create hope for impoverished local families.
Over the years, our impact has greatly expanded by getting more deeply involved in the communities where we build. In January 2016, Casita Linda began offering intensive, twice weekly workshops to our families and others in the community, as well as providing various forms of support to the community as a whole. We co-host community festivals, organize pet sterilization clinics with Amigos de los Animales, partner with Caminos de Agua to build rainwater catchment systems for elementary schools, and install pop-up libraries with Libros para Todos.
In 2017, Casita Linda earned 501c3 status, becoming a recognized nonprofit organization in the United States as well as Mexico. Donations from people around the world make Casita Linda’s achievements possible.
Before receiving a house, these families live in shacks made of scrap metal, cardboard, plastic sheets, and scavenged bricks with dirt floors that turn to mud in the rainy season. Moving into a Casita Linda house that has concrete floors, separate bedrooms for girls and boys, an indoor bathroom, a rainwater catchment system, furniture, and doors that lock is a profoundly life-changing event.
Family
Selection Process
Our
Workshops
With the skills and knowledge that we provide to our families through these workshops, they are better prepared to start a new chapter in their lives and break negative cycles, as well as to prevent the intergenerational transmission of poverty.
All-Volunteer Board of Directors
Louise Gilliam
President
Louise Gilliam, has lived in San Miguel for 16 years after having lived in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas. Louise was Director of Corporate Communications for a major airline and then went on to open an Executive Search firm specializing in placing high caliber airline executives for both domestic and international carriers. Louise began producing events for Casita Linda in 2006. She is committed to seeing that the poorest of the poor in San Miguel are treated with dignity and respect and have sustainable shelter and is passionate about paving the way for the children of our families to build better lives for themselves.
Gregg Blackburn
Treasurer
Gregg Blackburn, is a former civil litigation attorney from Boston, Massachusetts. After retiring he came to San Miguel in 2009 with his wife Karen who has longtime connections to San Miguel. He started out with Casita Linda as a volunteer laborer in the field screening sand and laying block. Working with the construction crew and seeing firsthand the living conditions of house recipients has fostered a commitment to Casita Linda’s goals and its crew. He joined the board in 2014 and became treasurer in the spring of that year.
LYN GAWRON
Secretary
Lyn Gawron, Secretary, has lived in Europe, North Africa, the US and Mexico. She owned seven gas stations in Southern Arizona before moving on to the Office of Cultural Programs, Colorado State University, bringing events and covering all disciplines of the Arts to the campus and the city of Fort Collins, CO. She then spent three years as a Personal Banking Officer and Business Development Specialist for the Bank of Santa Fe in New Mexico. As a volunteer, she was responsible for hospitality for Film Festivals in Houston, Charleston, Denver, Durango, Taos and Santa Fe. Lyn and her husband currently reside in San Miguel de Allende and Santa Fe, New Mexico where she works in the movie industry.
Guadalupe Alessio
Board Member
Guadalupe Alessio, is a Mexican sociologist with a degree in Human Rights and Gender Studies and a Masters degree in Studies in International Relations. Lupita has worked in several government institutions. She was Executive Secretary of the ” Commission for Peace and Reconciliation in Chiapas” and was a teacher at the prep school and University level. Lupita has written several articles about social issues in various magazines. She joined the Casita Linda Board because she believes that owning a house is the most elementary human need and human right. She believes it is very important to help the most deprived families in our community.
Teri Kavanagh
Board Member
Teri Kavanagh, has dual citizenship in Mexico and the U.S. and is fluent in both languages, and has resided in San Miguel since 2002. She is presently the Co-Founder and Director of the Casa Buenaventura Charitable Foundation and an Ambassador to CRISMA/ Vamos Mexico. She is also a Citizen Liaison Volunteer with the U.S. Embassy in Mexico. Under the previous Municipal Administration, she was the Director of Non-Profits and Liaison to the Foreign Community in San Miguel. She has been active with other NGO’s including Rotary, Feed the Hungry, Mexiquito Orphanage, and the Red Cross.
Stacy Rose
Board Member
Stacy Rose has lived in San Miguel de Allende since 2012, having relocated with her husband from Akron, Ohio. She received her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1986 and continues to hold a valid license in Ohio. Her nursing experience includes surgical, medical, psychiatric, and school nursing. While serving as a school nurse, she had responsibility for various areas of health education. She also has experience in chairing multiple fundraising events and serving in other volunteer capacities, many for organizations in San Miguel. Her greatest passion is her family, and that passion motivates her desire to help needy families in her new home city here in Mexico.
Paul Rose
Board Member
Paul Rose has been a resident of San Miguel de Allende since 2012, although he maintains a legal practice in the United States, focusing on complex business and insurance litigation. He has been recognized by multiple legal rating organizations, including Chambers USA and Best Lawyers in America. He has extensive experience serving on charitable boards, including the board of Tarry House, a psychiatric half-way house, which he chaired for eight years, and the Board of Trustees of The Cleveland Orchestra, where he served as chair or vice chair of several committees, including the Facilities Committee, which is responsible for the construction and physical maintenance of the Orchestra’s performance facilities. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Oklahoma, where he earned is B.A. degree, with Special Distinction, in writing. He also graduated with honors from The Ohio State University School of Law. Paul is a long-time supporter of Casita Linda, and he joined its Board of Directors in 2022.
Marco Hernández
Board Member
Marco Hernandez, Mexican, has lived all his life in San Miguel de Allende. He is an architect by profession and works mainly in the residential construction and real estate sectors. He has worked in these sectors since 2005, where he has had the opportunity to be close to the local, national and international community. He studied part of his studies at the European University of Madrid where he had the opportunity to take courses in the evolution of cities, photography and landscaping. Among the opportunities that have presented themselves, he was involved in the design and construction of the community center of the community of Don Diego as a consultant. The AH Arquitectos firm that he runs today was founded by his father, Architect J. Alberto Hernandez, of whom he was a partner but is now retired, the first architect Emeritus of the city of San Miguel de Allende. Marco today follows in the footsteps and legacy that was left to him, making the practice of architecture today, a mixture of what was delegated to him and the new challenges that the world is presenting.
Gustavo Rodriguez
Board Member
Gustavo “Kiko” Rodríguez was born in Lima, Peru, and earned his degree in Business Administration at Universidad Inca Garcilaso de la Vega before moving to Orange County, California at age 27. He launched his career as a building engineer with Arnel Management (Commercial Division) and worked for the company 18 years before moving to The Irvine Company. He was Maintenance and Projects Divisional Director for the Southern California region of Atria Senior Living before retiring in 2020. Kiko has lived part-time in San Miguel de Allende since 2015, and relocated full-time after 33 years in California. A lifetime animal lover, Kiko is president of the board of Rosey’s Wish (El Deseo de Rosey), a local organization that offers a pet food bank, free spay and neuter clinics to animals in communities surrounding San Miguel de Allende, and transports rescue dogs for adoption to the United States and Canada. He enjoys playing tennis and anything related to construction, remodeling, decorating, cooking, and entertaining.
Our Staff
Gabriela Rodríguez
Executive Director
Gabriela received her Bachelor’s degree in Comercializacion at the Universidad Tecnológica del Norte de Guanajuato (UTNG) and has more than 10 years of experience in the public sector. She worked for Desarrollo Integral de la Familia (DIF) as its Director of Operations, where she managed multiple programs, such as social assistance, food provision, childcare, senior care, physical therapy and rehabilitation, and psychological support. Gabriela also worked for SAPASMA (water department) where she was the Director of Rural Assistance. Gabriela was hired as Casita Linda’s Executive Director in 2019. She joined our team because her vocation in life has always been to serve others and she is passionate about contributing to community development. Her responsibilities include, but are not limited to: overseeing family selection, the building process, and our workshops; communicating with our families and community partners (e.g., Caminos de Agua, Escuela de Educación Especial); supervising the accounting and compliance with tax obligations; supporting international volunteers; assisting with our annual gala; and managing our website and social media accounts.
Magdalena Pérez
Social Worker
Magda has been employed by Casita Linda since 2012. In addition to her degree in social work, Magda has trained in family violence prevention, human development, environment, and sexuality and gender. She has worked with coffee producers, coordinated a program for street children, and spent 15 years with the State Government of Guanajuato's Department of Social Development, focusing on indigenous women and poor rural communities. Magda is passionate about implementing programs in the vulnerable communities in San Miguel de Allende that Casita Linda supports and exploring with community members how to raise their standard of living. Her responsibilities at Casita Linda include: selecting new communities to build in, identifying community leaders, evaluating applicants and assisting with family selection, leading all of our community workshops, and supporting the communities in various ways such as organizing festivals, theatre productions, pet sterilization clinics, organic gardening, tree planting, and much more. Magda lives in San Miguel with her daughter Carolina
Guillermina Reyes
Assistant to the Executive Director
Guillermina has been an important member of the Casita Linda family for several years; her involvement began when her family of four received a house back in 2013. That year, Casita Linda hired her as our office cleaner; very quickly, however, it became evident that Guillermina had the intelligence and drive to do much more, and our prior Executive Director began training her to do administrative work. Today, Guillermina is Assistant to the Executive Director, a critical role that enables us to keep our office operations running smoothly. Her main activities include handling the accounting for donations, keeping track of all expenses related to the construction and furnishing of the houses, and managing the payment of utilities, rent, and taxes for the organization. Guillermina is a true Casita Linda success story. Her family went from poverty to middle class in just a few years, thanks to no longer having to focus on mere survival and being given the space to dream and thrive. Her husband is now the Deputy Chief of Security for La Comer Supermarket, and their two teenage daughters are studying at the bilingual Academia Internacional under a scholarship.
Our Partnerships
Financial Summary
A crucial part of making Casita Linda viable is keeping our costs to a bare minimum. We seek to put the maximum amount of each donation toward the actual construction of the homes we build and the provision of social services to our home recipients and many of their neighbors. We have achieved this enviable record thanks to the dedication and talents of our volunteer board members and the help of many other volunteers. Furthermore, we manage to build each durable, secure, comfortable, well-constructed home for roughly $15,000 USD including a wastewater system, a rainwater catchment system, basic furniture, electricity and plumbing. In the process, we provide good jobs to a dedicated crew of local construction workers.
We are affiliated with Friends of Casita Linda AC, Inc. a US-based 501 (c) (3) non-profit that files a “Form 990) non-profit tax return annually. That form becomes public on the IRS website.