Casa Marianella opened its doors on January 6, 1986. The Austin Interfaith Task Force for Central America initiated the project in response to the arrival in Austin of refugees fleeing from Central America. Marianella Garcia Villas, for whom the house is named, was a human rights lawyer in El Salvador who was slain by death squads in 1983. The actual building used as the Casa was donated by developer Ed Wendler to the Diocese of Austin for use as a shelter. As the wars in Central America began to resolve in the late 1980’s, Casa began to serve less refugees and more immigrants. The clients of Casa Marianella arrive from the following countries: Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Priority is still given to political refugees, and there have been occasional clients from as far away as Bosnia and Africa. The original facility of Casa Marianella is located on Gunter Street in Austin, Texas. In addition to beds, Casa has been offering food, clothing, and English classes. At this facility nightly occupancy is 21-30 people, and the average length of stay is 30 days. The majority of persons leaving the shelter are able to find stable housing when they leave. In 2003 Casa Marianella opened a new facility to provide emergency shelter and support to homeless immigrant women and their children. The new facility and its program are called Posada Esperanza. Posada Esperanza has now been serving families since January 2003 in a home-like environment that aims to support the entire well-being of the families. Up to twelve women and children are provided are housed at the facility at a time. Families stay at Posada for three to six months.