Friends of Santa Elena Committee-C.A.S.E. was created in San Francisco, California after native residents of Santa Elena and friends gathered together after a year, who met each Friday to chat.

On one such Friday at the beginning of June, José Eliazar Córdova proposed that we each donate $25 a month until December in order to buy toys to be given out to poor children in Santa Elena at Christmas in 1990.

At that meeting on June 15, 1990 another participant stated: “If we are going to collect money for the poor children of our town, why don't we form a committee?” The response was positive and that is how C.A.S.E.-San Francisco, California started. At the gathering there were friends who were not from Santa Elena but decided to become members of the committee, and thus the name "Friends of Santa Elena Committee” was set.

Our first activity was decided at that meeting, in which each member would donate $25/month to start to collect funds and begin our activities.

However, none of the participants had any experience participating in a committee so we all learned from each other. But with each Friday meeting, we began to make important decisions and we came to the conclusion that if we really wanted to do something for the poor children and community of Santa Elena, we needed to motivate those from Santa Elena living in Los Angeles, California since more people from our town lived in that city than those of us living in the San Francisco area. So two months later, on August 16, 1990, CASE- Los Angeles was formed.

From that moment on, the two committees worked together, but we also began to discuss the need to form a committee with which to work in Santa Elena, if our goal was to work on behalf of the residents there. In this way we would guarantee that the projects would be properly carried out. Taking advantage of the trip that José Eliazar Córdova was making to El Salvador that December, he was charged with the delicate task of forming C.A.S.E-Santa Elena, El Salvador. In order to select the members of the committee, a survey was carried out in Los Angeles and San Francisco to nominate people. And then José Eliazar needed to speak with and convince those that had been selected to form CASE Santa Elena. This was done on January 11, 1991.

In 1995 C.A.S.E. Virginia was established, but it disappeared a year later; in 1997 C.A.S.E. Houston, Texas was formed, but it also dissolved after a year; in 2008 C.A.S.E. San Salvador was formed, but it also dissolved after a year.

C.A.S.E. is one body with various heads, and it has lasted over 19 years since its founding.