Gonzales: AltaCair may produce a guidebook to help Valley residents access key services

MCALLEN, Texas – The AltaCair Foundation is considering publishing a guidebook with information on all the social services available in different parts of the Rio Grande Valley.

Veronica Gonzales, a director on the AltaCair board, spoke about the guidebook idea in a podcast with the Rio Grande Guardian. She said the guidebook, available in English and Spanish, in print and digital, would have a list of all the groups, many of them nonprofits, that can help residents and what those groups have to offer.

“We’re just getting started but we talked about ultimately having a guidebook or something that is available where people can say oh, if you live in this city, these are the things that are available. If you live near this one, here’s where you can call or go to, how you reach them,” Gonzales said.

“I think it’s going to be informative also for the people that are providing the services. Not just for the people that need the services. But for those that are providing to say, gosh, we totally missed this particular neighborhood.”

Gonzales said such a guidebook would be useful also for legislators and policymakers. “They can (then) go and they can advocate for these areas that they may not be aware of, that have these needs.”

It was put to Gonzales that such a guidebook could be a first for the Valley.

“I think so. You know, Cameron County is very different from Hidalgo County. And so, a lot of times, people that live in Cameron may know what’s there but there may be a service that’s missing, and they don’t know that it’s available in Hidalgo or in Willacy or Starr,” Gonzales said.

“So, I think it’s really having those services available and then looking for ways that some of these nonprofits can collaborate with each other to then provide a service.”

Gonzales is also a senior vice president at UT-Rio Grande Valley.

“We run a nonprofit resource center at the university and we’re always looking for ways that the nonprofits can collaborate with each other and, also, to give our students the opportunity to go out into the community and actually do work in the community and make a difference in people’s lives, not just sit in the classroom. I think you do your best learning when you’re out there, with your feet on the ground.”

In the podcast, Gonzales spoke about the “cluster” meetings AltaCair has set up in order to hear from different sectors, such as healthcare, education, industry, etc.

She also spoke about a fundraiser the AltaCair board of directors is organizing. It will be a Casino Royale Night and will be held at the Embassy Suites in McAllen on Aug. 29.

“Everybody seems to have fun at those. It’s not a lot about speeches. It’s more about fun, but to benefit this wonderful cause.”

Editor’s Note: Here, below, is the Guardian’s podcast about the work of the AltaCair Foundation. The first half of the program features a conversation with AltaCair’s Executive Director Rashmi Chandran (pictured below). The conversation with AltaCair board member Veronica Gonzales starts at about 30 minutes in.

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