You will find Theresa's story and her 200+pledgebankers and how several hunred locla project developers continues at catcom threads within the local global section of omidyar http://www.omidyar.net/group/localglobal/news/

a few lowlights and highlights aqs 2006 move forward
January
the original CASA was broken into and computers damages one January night of 2006 leading to the decision to relocate it; apparently the Roman Catholic church in its wisdom in redevelopimg the whole area around the old casa but this has meant a lot less safety for thsoe that are temporarily there
February
the last day of fully running the old CASA has been dated at the saem time as a feast and start of Rio's carnivals - carnival methods of animating projects remain one of our huge interests at Club of Dc having been introduced to a guy who is studying practices of carnivlas as they connect to sustainability education of peoples or other socila premneurial revolutions

this thread on the culture -QUALITIES OF CASA SPACE - seemed vital to reproduce here:
The following is a list of the characteristics of the space (also found at http://www.comcat.org/english/casa.asp#crie
A location accessible by one ride on public transport from any location within the metropolitan region;
2. A "homey" space: the fact that it is a house, we have found is important in building a fraternal culture of comfort, exchange, and dialogue; Staff and frequent visitors present the Casa and its objectives to all visitors and receive them with coffee and biscuits, in order for them to quickly feel at home;
There is no charge for use of the space given the low socio-economic level of community organizers in Rio de Janeiro; in addition we have found that the exchange of monetary resources among staff and community organizers weakens the bonds of trust and camaraderie, and so must be avoided to ensure the healthy nature of the space;
The connections made and information exchanged at the Casa are unpredictable and depend on the organizers that visit the space; the staff's role is to maintain a friendly space that nurtures and stimulates natural and strengthening exchanges;
Workshops, debates and lectures offered in the space are organized by volunteers including community organizers that seek out CatComm staff to make use of the space, as are meeting rooms and computer facilities; CatComm staff does not actively direct the use and content of the space;
The space is specifically available to support people in their effort to further projects related to community organizing or social mobilization; individuals wanting to use the space for personal, rather than collective aims, are directed to other Internet café's or locations for those activities;
The space is neutral relative to differences in gender, race, religion, age, or sexual orientation;
Community organizers may use the Casa's resources independent of the thematic focus of their work;
Exchanges among community organizers with diverse interests are actively encouraged; for example, a health project, AUAPARN, organized a computer skills workshop with a women's group, Woman in Action, and with a homeless movement, Chiquinha Gonzaga;
Outreach happens mainly naturally, by word-of-mouth; by attentively following these precepts, the space has become a reference among community organizers in Rio and new leaders visit us almost daily thanks to positive outreach by other leaders themselves;
Our staff offers to one only what we can offer to all; this encourages us to develop stronger bonds with community organizers and volunteers themselves, who effectively drive activity in the space while CatComm maintains a small staff to simply administer and maintain it;
Monthly open meetings are held with Casa users to determine how the space and CatComm's website can better serve them, and to discuss important issues currently affecting local projects;
Every visit and the use of computers and meetings spaces is registered in a customized database in order to determine how the space is being used, what works, and what could improve.