Solana Beach nonprofit to celebrate 20 years with ‘Sowing Seeds of Success’

Casa de Amistad in Solana Beach will celebrate 20 years as a nonprofit with “Sowing Seeds of Success,” an event at the Carmel Mountain Ranch Estate on Saturday, April 2, at 5 p.m.

“What started out as a handful of kids sitting around a table is now hundreds of kids being served, going to college and accomplishing their dreams,” said Nicole Mione-Green, the nonprofit’s executive director.

The event will include a welcome reception, dinner and music from the Peter Pupping Duo. All funds raised will help support Casa de Amistad’s mission of removing barriers to academic success for underserved K-12 students in coastal North County.

Casa de Amistad’s programs include tutoring and mentoring for students from K to 12, preschool enrichment, college counseling, and math and science programs.

The organization started as an outreach program of Solana Beach Presbyterian Church before becoming its own nonprofit in 2001.

“Casa has grown a lot since I first started,” Mione-Green said. “We had a staff of one and now we have a full-time staff of five.”

She added that the 20th anniversary event is “a celebration of the impact that Casa’s made in the community.”

“We’ve been able to connect volunteers and students to act as academic mentors,” said Mione-Green, who has been with Casa de Amistad since 2006. “Our program expanded to serve preschool through 12th grade. So we have grown our kinder to college initiative. Now we have very specific milestones that the kids are hitting. More kids are going to college, postsecondary education, and we have a future leaders scholarship that helps the students pay for four-year universities, community college and vocational training.”

Like most local organizations, the COVID-19 pandemic had a big impact on Casa de Amistad’s operations. Some of the nonprofit’s goals include transitioning back to in-person programs.

“When COVID hit we transitioned into an online program where we’ve been able to still serve 200 sessions a week,” Mione-Green said. “We have about 185 students who have been working online since COVID started.”

Casa de Amistad is located at 120 Stevens Ave. in Solana Beach. For more information and tickets, visit casadeamistad.org.