The CASA Youth Group is a group of passionate, community-conscious people working to organize, advocate for, and expand opportunities for Latino and immigrant people in Pennsylvania.

The group centers on issues of social justice, and their own ability to change their own lives.

The group is composed by members from York, Lancaster, Dauphin, Adams, and Chester counties.

Since it was established in 2019, CASA youth leaders have passed a resolution on a local level to transition the city of York to 100 percent renewable energy.

They put together the legislation, met with York city council members, and advocated in front of City Council members who passed the resolution unanimously.

The success of CASA Youth Group relies fully on its members.

One of those members is Nitzi Gaitán. Nitzi is a first-year graduate student at York College where she is studying environmental justice. She has been the lead to pass the resolution to transition York city into 100 percent renewable energy.

Nitzi is one of the leaders of the CASA PA Youth Comité and has been a member of CASA since 2018.

Her parents have been in CASA since the very beginning and helped get Nitzi involved.

“I think diverse communities can make a huge impact on our environmental crisis,” Nitzi says. “Once one city gets involved many other cities will be motivated to join the movement and the awareness of climate change gets spread quickly throughout the community. It all just depends on people motivating others and educating them on why caring for our ecosystem is truly important.”

Know of a good natured Pennsylvanian who is passionate about outdoor recreation and/or conservation that we should feature? Contact DCNR by sending email to: ra-resource@pa.gov to nominate someone.

For more information on state parks and forests and recreation in Pennsylvania, visit DCNR’s website, Click Here to sign up for the Resource newsletter, Visit the Good Natured DCNR Blog,  Click Here for upcoming events, Click Here to hook up with DCNR on other social media-- Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

(Reprinted from the May 13 DCNR Resource newsletter.  Click Here to sign up for your own copy.)

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