Parenting happens to be one of the most difficult jobs of all. Single parenting increases that difficulty exponentially. The story of Maria Quintana exemplifies this, but her story is also one of triumph. Quintana has two young children. Unemployed, she received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for her and her children’s meals. Homeless, she and her children stayed with a friend three days a week. They then lived in her…
Sonia Marroquin contemplated naming her ice cream shop the Golden Spoon or Golden Scoop. She also seriously considered investing in a franchise. The shop she envisioned had its own vibe so Marroquin decided to go to school instead – the ice cream school. This wasn’t Marroquin’s first trip to school. She earned her undergraduate degree at The University of Texas at San Antonio before gaining acceptance into the highly competitive…
The second oldest of five girls, Marisol Munoz has always felt, and embraced, the responsibility to serve as a role model to her younger sisters. When she graduated from the Academy of Health Science Professions in La Joya ISD, Munoz felt the true weight of that responsibility. Daughter of immigrant parents. First-generation college student. The pressure was on. In high school, Munoz completed training as a certified nurse assistant and…
A mid-summer day in 2022 started out like any other for Cris Moreno and was supposed to conclude with a joyful night out with his mother and an uncle and aunt visiting from California. It was during that outing when another vehicle slammed into Moreno’s GMC truck. He was badly injured and rushed to DHR Health hospital in Edinburg. Moreno is a mechanic who has owned and operated an auto…
Murdoch’s Ranch and Home Supply held a grand opening at its first site in the Rio Grande Valley in early April. Nearly 2,000 miles from its flagship store in Bozeman, Mont., this Murdoch’s is at the corner of Expressway 83 and Bryan Road in Mission, a location next to a Burlington store in a new retail development area. “It’s a perfect retail outlet that fits well with the city of…
Life hasn’t been easy for Brownsville resident Michael Castilleja. Raised by his grandfather, he learned the value of money at an early age because it was hard to come by. When he completed high school, he faced a number of obstacles in his pursuit to break free of the cycle of poverty but Castilleja possesses a clear understanding of the value of education. “Being in a Hispanic family in the…
The Spirit of McAllen shone brightly during McAllen Day at the Camino Real Polanco in Mexico City on Feb. 29. The city’s delegation included 150 travel agents who arrived at a breakfast coordinated by three leading city officials. They are Daniella Plata, the director of international relations for the City of McAllen, Jeremy Santoscoy, McAllen International Airport’s director of aviation and the McAllen Convention and Visitors Bureau led by Leigh…
When friends told Weslaco resident Melba Gutierrez about the Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement, she listened intently. At the time, financial struggles made it difficult for her to attend nursing school full time because she had to work to help with basic necessities for herself, her partner and their two daughters — a pre-teen and a teen. Gutierrez, in her early 40s and a first-generation college student, applied to…
David Arturo Muñoz-Matta has had a fascination with finance for years. He moved to the United States with his mom, Mariel Muñoz-Matta, at the age of 6, having no idea where that fascination would eventually take him. Muñoz-Matta would talk about stocks with his science teacher, Mike Aranda, during his years at Brown Middle School. He laughs, noting he was not a stellar student then. He preferred to study people…
According to the United States Census Bureau QuickFacts 2018-2022, in the four-county region of Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr and Willacy counties, an average of 67 percent of adults over the age of 25 hold a high-school diploma. A paltry average of 16 percent have a bachelor’s degree or higher. While the financial burden of higher education — including tuition, books, room and board, tools and equipment, uniforms, transportation and child care…