San Antonio Express News Calls on County Commissioners to Keep its Promise to Highland Oaks Residents and COPS/Metro
Citing the public safety hazard to children that current road conditions pose, the San Antonio Express-News urged the Bexar County Commissioners court to keep the momentum going on stalled road renovations.
Read moreValley Interfaith Leverages Candidate Pledges on Indigent Health, Job Training and Colonia Infrastructure
250 leaders with Valley Interfaith assembled at Holy Family Church in Edinburg to challenge candidates for Hidalgo County Judge to commit to working with them on health, job training and colonia infrastructure. Specifically, leaders challenged candidates to commit to raising the income eligibility to qualify for the County's indigent health care program, to restore funding for long-term job training program VIDA and to install necessary lighting, streets and drainage in surrounding unincorporated neighborhoods.
Read moreEPISO & Border Interfaith Extend Water Lines into Colonia Island
Over 20 years ago, a developer in the City of El Paso bought acreage in an undeveloped plot of land, an "island" landlocked by, but not included within, El Paso's municipal boundaries. The developer recorded the purchase with the County, but then — unbeknownst to anyone — illegally partitioned the land and sold the reduced-sized lots to low-income families without providing certificates of occupancy.
Read moreEPISO, Successful in Tackling Water & Sewage, Fights for Infrastructure as Funds Dry Up
In radio coverage about the Texas governor zeroing out the Colonia Initiative Program's nearly $860,000 budget, a story about the success of the El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Committee (EPISO) emerged.
Read moreValley Interfaith Confronts Candidates on Light, Ambulances, Drainage, Workforce Development and Tax Abatements
The night before early voting began, undecided voters from Valley Interfaith congregations held a nonpartisan accountability assembly with candidates for Cameron County judge and Commissioner positions in Precinct 1 and Precinct 4. Said Valley Interfaith leader Tina Ramirez-Tetecatl: "We selected questions through house meetings and talking about issues around the parishes."
Leaders asked candidates to respond yes or no to questions about investments in light posts, workforce development program VIDA, ambulance services into the colonias and the creation of a unified county drainage district. In order to pay for these requested expansions, Valley Interfaith asked candidates whether they would deny tax abatements to companies seeking to expand in Cameron.
Read moreCOPS / Metro Leaders of Bexar Co. Colonias Fight for Paving
When Maria Bernal's baby stopped breathing after midnight, she called 911. The child turned blue as she waited 90 minutes for ambulances to arrive; the ambulances were stuck in the sand.
Over 250 families live in Highland Oaks, an unincorporated corner of Bexar County, cut off from essential services because they have no streets -- only sand. Schools stopped sending buses to Highland Oaks because they, too, would get stuck.
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EPISO & Border Interfaith Punch Payday Lenders Again with $13 Million Alternative Lending Program
For the second time in one year, IAF organizations in El Paso (EPISO and Border Interfaith) dealt a harsh blow to the bottom line of payday lenders.
During last year's fight to restrict how much payday lenders can legally make off the backs of lower-income families, opponents from the lending industry couched their financial predation under the guise of "providing a valuable service" to residents. After winning a significant victory in 2014 limiting payday lending profits, leaders wanted more.
Read moreEPISO Leverages $5 Million for Colonia Park & Road
In addition to securing half a million dollars to upgrade the Ruben Estrella Park in the Montana Vista colonia, leaders of EPISO went on to leverage an additional $4.5 Million to begin construction to extend Edgemere Boulevard from the City of El Paso into the unincorporated community. The road will better allow residents from Montana Vista to better access the City of El Paso; Montana Vista is currently accessible by only one road.
Nearly 900 Valley Interfaith Leaders Celebrate 30th Anniversary
Gathering at the Pharr Events Center in the Rio Grande Valley, Valley Interfaith leaders celebrated their 30th anniversary with stories of historic achievements, blessings for recent VIDA graduates, and presentations of strategies for healthcare enrollment, education and comprehensive immigration reform. Veteran leaders like Fr. Alfonso Guevara lauded Valley Interfaith as a 'university of public life' that helps people do 'what politicians can no longer do' -- tapping into local relationships, learning what matters to people and developing people's capacity to achieve extraordinary things through collaboration with others. In photo, leaders bow head in prayer at start of celebration.
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