Category Archives: Non-Profit

Local Nurse Receives Career Stepping Stone with VIDA

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Yvette Garcia

While in the Vocational Nursing Program at Texas State Technical College in Harlingen, Yvette Garcia attended an informational session conducted by the Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement. Little did she know that day how much this session would impact her life. Founded nearly 30 years ago through a collaboration between Valley Interfaith and business leaders from across the Rio Grande Valley, VIDA has remained true to its original mission.…

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VIDA Helps Create New Life for Mom of Six

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Clarissa Magaña

When friends of Weslaco resident Clarissa Magaña told her about the Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement, her goal suddenly seemed more viable. Acceptance into VIDA would allow her to obtain the degree she always wanted. Earning an associate degree in nursing would also be an important lesson for this single mother’s six children. Already a licensed vocational nurse, Magaña longed to return to school to become a registered nurse. …

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Young Family Finds Stability with VIDA

Community e-Brief Features Featured News Non-Profit Comments

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…

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Future Nurse Is Fulfilling Dreams with VIDA

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Marisol Munoz

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…

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A Clear Eye on the Goal

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Michael Castilleja

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…

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Livestock Show ‘In Blood’ Of New GM

Community News Non-Profit Comments
Luis Saldana grew up in Mercedes as a student participant in the RGV Livestock Show and now leads the organization.

Luis Saldana was coming to the end of a three decades-long career with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service when a job offer came along involving the leadership of a historic organization in his hometown. Saldana’s fellow board members of the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show approached him in early 2023 with the possibility of the general manager leadership post. Saldana grew up the son of an agricultural education instructor…

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Art On Pipes Gives McAllen New Look

Community News Non-Profit Comments

The roughly 300 irrigation pipes found by roadsides and canals throughout McAllen predate the city’s rapid growth and industrialization of recent decades. McAllen’s founding (like the rest of the Rio Grande Valley) has its roots in agriculture. The network of pipes played a key role in controlling and directing the flow of river water to area farmland. Much of the latter are no longer there but the pipes remain. They…

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Methodist Healthcare Ministries Awards VIDA $60K

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VIDA/Methodist Healthcare Ministries

Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement has received a $60,000 grant from Methodist Healthcare Ministries. This contribution will allow VIDA to expand its impact and continue its essential efforts in advancing career training opportunities for allied health professionals.   The grant acknowledges the pivotal role of community organizations in driving positive transformation, addressing influential factors impacting health such as socio-economic challenges, and fostering avenues for economic advancement.  “We are immensely grateful…

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VIDA Changes Setbacks to Comebacks

e-Brief Features Education Featured News Non-Profit Comments
Samuel Arguelles

Samuel Arguelles had excellent role models and grew up witnessing the importance of higher education. Unfortunately, that provides no guarantee. “I am a second-generation college student; however, I lost my parents at a very young age and have been trying so hard to make them proud,” Arguellas said. His parents passed away from different forms of cancer, his dad while working on a PhD and his mom while working on…

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Welding Together a New Life with VIDA

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Diego Medina

Normally a 10 year old would be considered a child; however, at the age of 10, Diego Medina saw himself as a young man when his parents divorced. He began working in the fields and mowing lawns on the weekends to assist his mother with their household bills.  Over the years, Medina had countless setbacks, and he found it more and more difficult to get ahead. In his early 30s,…

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