ABOUT US
Cada Casa, translated from Spanish to English means every house. The name functions as a bilingual acronym broadly framing our audience and mission. CADA: Comunidad, Academia, Deporte, Arte and; CASA: Community, Academics, Sports, and Art. We are a 501(c)3 organization built and designed to present new and non-present opportunity pathways to a diverse youth community within our operational region of Oregon.
Our programs prioritize unsupported, marginalized youth communities. CADA CASA, or CC facilitates dynamic educational experiences, accessible athletic programming, and creative events that foster civic engagement, design thinking, skill building and empowerment for teens and young adults in Northwestern Oregon. CC values equity and intercultural education in our program curriculum. We give primacy to BIPOC and particularly Latiné communities in our program planning, hiring and student recruitment. We continually adapt our programs to the clear and present needs of our students and the surrounding communities, meeting our students where they are at and building stronger community and civic relationships.
Through accessible, impassioned programming our vision is to empower every house.
History
Cada Casa (CC) was established in 2010 by bilingual science, art and design educator, Tymon Emch. After witnessing certain educational shortfalls especially affecting underserved student populations, Emch began offering new programming tailored to those students which sought to rebalance education and address underserved students first by framing teaching within the cultures, activities, and interests of their communities. Early programming involved sports, art and design as well as language and math tutoring. With growing popularity, in 2015 CADA CASA entered into partnership with Oregon public middle and high schools offering classes directly to students within their schools for school credit and in 2019, CADA CASA achieved 501(c)3 status.
After nearly fifteen years of steady growth, in 2025 CADA CASA acts now as an umbrella structure supporting several individual student-first projects. Each program is custom tailored to offer distinct learning opportunities, tailored for distinct learning opportunities or serve a specific community need. Altogether, each program functions as part of an overarching pedagogical methodology built to teach design thinking, confidence, entrepreneurship and civic engagement foundationally. Of greatest importance, the programming always originates from student need, driven interest or educational disparity.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
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Commitment to Equitable Opportunities
Cada Casa advances equity by providing accessible intercultural education, athletic programs, skill-building, and civic engagement opportunities for students; with a focus on BIPOC, Latino/x, and other disadvantaged communities. CC develops an impassioned learning curriculum and facilitates cultural enrichment for school clubs throughout Oregon.
In addition to targeting marginalized schools and areas, we believe that our students should see themselves in their instructors. All of our instructors are artists from our local POC community. Furthermore, we strive to provide a nuanced pairing of instructors and target students. For instance, in NE Portland (Jefferson HS, 33% Black) we would have more BIPOC instructors but in Washington County (Beaverton HS, 44% Latino) we would use Latinx instructors.
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DIT: Do It Together
Although we embrace the philosophy of building instead of buying (creation over-consuming), we also encourage the concept of DIT: Do It Together. There are people in the community around you who are experienced and passionate about the topics that interest you. Cada Casa aims to help connect youth with similarly passionate mentors/teachers/individuals/organizations, provide the materials, and the opportunity to let you explore the world around you.
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Skill Building & Knowledge Intersection
While school separates knowledge into different classes, Cada Casa offers integrated learning opportunities that demonstrate how discrete skills are applicable to youth in modern life. The result is an increased understanding of an ecosystem of disciplines that facilitates the development of critical, capable, creative, renaissance humans. The screen printer learns basic accounting and color theory; the barista explores ecology and engineering; the music producer organizes shows and conceptualizes digital marketing.
Certifications
Four-Star Rating
Charity Navigator
Cada Casa is proud to announce that its strong financial health and ongoing accountability and transparency has earned a Four-Star Rating from Charity Navigator. This rating designates Cada Casa as an official “Give with Confidence” charity, indicating that our organization is using its donations effectively based on Charity Navigator’s criteria. Charity Navigator is America’s largest and most-utilized independent charity evaluator. Since 2001, the organization has been an unbiased and trusted source of information for more than 11 million donors annually.
Platinum Seal of Transparency
GuideStar - Candid
Candid is a nonprofit that provides the most comprehensive data and insights about the social sector. Every year, millions of nonprofits spend trillions of dollars around the world. We find out where that money comes from, where it goes, and why it matters. Through research, collaboration, and training, Candid connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to do it.
Non Discriminatory Policy
Cada Casa International does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, hiring and firing of staff, selection of volunteers and vendors, and provision of services. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, clients, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors, and clients.
Cada Casa International is an equal-opportunity employer. We will not discriminate and will take affirmative action measures to ensure against discrimination in employment, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment against any employee or job applicant on the bases of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran's status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression