HEMPSTEAD, NY – Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and Office of Hispanic Affairs Executive Director Gabriela Castillo last night hosted elected officials, local civic and faith leaders, and over 60 members of the community to mark the grand opening of a new office and name-change for the Nassau County Office of Hispanic Affairs (formerly “CASA”).
Formerly in the basement of the same building, the new office is located on the first floor of 40 Main St, Hempstead, NY 11550.
“It was a delight to be joined by so many friends and community members for an event that highlighted the vital role the Office of Hispanic Affairs plays in serving our growing Hispanic community,” said County Executive Curran. “Nassau County will continue to build bridges between our government and the communities we serve.”
“While our office has existed for several decades, it was necessary to appropriately identify our community and create a new vision and path that would better meet the needs of our rapidly growing Latino constituency,” said Gabriela Castillo, Executive Director of the Office of Hispanic Affairs. “I applaud the efforts of our County Executive for helping ensure that our office was no longer operating out of a basement, and for working with me and our advisory board on creating a new vision where Nassau County government would be accessible to all.”
County Executive Curran and Executive Director Castillo were joined by Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder, State Senator Kevin Thomas, Senator John Brooks, Hempstead Town Supervisor Laura Gillen, Legislator Debra Mule, Hempstead Town Clerk Sylvia Cabana, and several other elected officials and civic leaders.
The event highlighted upcoming Office of Hispanic Affairs programming, recent steps Nassau County has taken to increase cultural competence in county government, aimed at opening doors of opportunity for the Hispanic community.
Rudy Carmenaty, Deputy County Attorney and Director of Legal Services, provided an update regarding the County’s increased efforts to provide language access services to non-English speakers. At the event’s close, County Executive Curran signed into law the official name-change of the office from the Coordinating Agency for Spanish Americans (CASA) to “Office of Hispanic Affairs.”
