Najla, this year’s Casserly House recipient of the Roslindale ESOL Award, exercising her freedom of expression!
Mary Beth O’Sullivan, Ignatian Volunteer at Casserly House
On January 6, 2000, Casserly House became incorporated. On the same day in 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt delivered a speech which was later called the “Four Freedoms Speech.” The four freedoms mentioned were freedom of worship, freedom of speech, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Are these two events, 59 years apart, connected?
Each day at Casserly House, we welcome people who represent all different faith traditions or no tradition at all – adult learners, neighbors, and volunteers alike. We teach English to promote freedom of expression and self-determination. Casserly House collaborates with many organizations to assist people to have freedom from want. Workshops entitled “Know Your Rights” and “Navigating the School” are developed so people have more information and can have freedom from fear in new and different school systems and work situations. Casserly House supports newcomers to the United States so that those with various languages, customs, and religions may live in freedom from fear and want, having found a welcoming community in Roslindale.