“I Have a Dream” is, of course, the iconic 1963 speech of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. For San Juan resident Carlos Pena, this phrase also expressed why he enrolled at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Pena, whose major is mechanical engineering, has a dream of working at Tesla as part of its design team. Tesla knows how to capture potential employees’ attention, even on its website: “Using…
After graduating from high school, McAllen resident Cain Ballesteros took the step many young people feel is expected of them; he enrolled in college. But after a year and a half, he realized college wasn’t for him. Ballesteros tried to find his calling through a number of career paths, including certified nursing assistant, but none felt right. His dad, Arturo Ballesteros, a master electrician for over 40 years who manages…
Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement is a Texas Talent Connection Grant recipient for a second time in a row to continue enhancing employment opportunities and promoting workforce development across the RGV. The $350,000 grant project will provide VIDA the opportunity to lead a continuation of the successful outcomes and deliverables from Texas Talent Connection Grant year one, in which 440 underserved residents were provided student support services to pursue…
Growing up, McAllen resident Camila Sanchez’s father always told her she could be anything she wanted to be. As her career goals developed, she realized she wanted to be a physical therapist assistant. Sanchez loves being a student because she genuinely enjoys learning and challenging herself. She enrolled in the PTA program at South Texas College in Fall 2020 but her road to what she wanted included roadblocks. In Spring…
Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement is one of Texas Mutual’s 48 grant recipients from across the state to promote workforce development and foster economic growth in Texas. “We are immensely thankful to Texas Mutual for selecting VIDA as one of its grant recipients for workforce development and safety training initiatives.” said VIDA President and CEO Felida Villarreal. “Equitable career training opportunities and human capital investment must be prioritized…
“There is a saying, something along the lines of, ‘Society grows when men plant trees whose shade they will never be able to sit under.’ Likewise, we, as a society, need to look out for one another. Only in that way will we be able to grow and progress to a stable community.” ~ Abdiel Ramirez Back in seventh grade, Abdiel Ramirez found reading books about a variety of medical…
Working at home as a full-time wife and mother has been recognized as an honorable and rewarding job, as well as one of the most difficult. And, unfortunately, it does not come with a paycheck. Vanessa Cantu of Brownsville watched her husband, Norberto, go to work each day as a driver for a car dealership as she cared for their three sons. Despite his commitment to his job, they struggled…
Four years ago, Brownsville resident Rogelio Garcia depended on government assistance to feed himself, his wife and their five children. Today, thanks to the Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement, that’s no longer the case. In early August of 2013, Garcia had a near-fatal accident that resulted in him going on disability. During his recovery, a friend told him about VIDA and its Commercial Electrician Program, focused on increasing the…
In his article, “Omne Trium Perfectum: Three May really be the charm,” in the July/August 2019 issue of Modern Aesthetics, Dr. Steve Dayan wrote, “In Kabbala philosophy, the number three signifies harmony. To the Chinese, the number three is considered lucky. And in Christian lore, the number three represents divine wholeness, completeness, and perfection, hence the Latin phrase Omne Trium Perfectum: everything that is three is perfect.” For Harlingen resident…
Edcouch resident Lupita Caballero felt fortunate to have a job as a health-care provider but earning $10 an hour placed her in a situation countless Rio Grande Valley residents know all too well. She knew she needed a degree in nursing to advance in the field of health care, but on her salary, she had no discretionary income to pay for college classes, textbooks and uniforms. Though the hurdles never…