Valley Interfaith Fights for Expansion of Housing Relief, Hidalgo Starts with $7.5M in Rent and Mortgage Support
Eddie Anaya, a member of Valley Interfaith, asked commissioners during the public comment section of the meeting to consider raising the program’s funding to $25 million.
“In just over three months, as of May 18, 2020, the Texas Workforce Commission reported 25,667 residents in Hidalgo County lost their job and filed for unemployment,” Anaya said. “Then there’s the other countless taxpayers and residents from Hidalgo County who are ineligible for unemployment, insurance or CARES Act benefits. Valley Interfaith is proposing that you help these families through a renter’s assistance program.”
Joe Hinojosa, a Valley Interfaith leader from Holy Spirit Church in McAllen, said the pandemic has been “incredibly painful” and noted that nearly 40% of Hidalgo County residents are uninsured.
Through the nonprofit, he also urged commissioners to increase funding for the Indigent Health Program. They are currently investing $6.1 million, Hinojosa said, urging them to increase it to $15.3 million, or 8% of the county’s total budget. Hinojosa also suggested commissioners loosen that program’s restrictions and allow families that are at 100% or below the federal poverty line to apply for healthcare assistance, as opposed to the current cutoff at 30%.
[Photo credit: Joel Martinez, The Monitor]
Hidalgo Co. Starts $7.5M Rent, Mortgage Relief Program, The Monitor [pdf]
Valley Interfaith Tells Senators Cornyn & Cruz: Reunite the Children Quickly & Stop Detaining Families
In the hubbub surrounding a meeting with US Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, Valley Interfaith leaders spoke up forcefully to press the issue of the reunification of children with their parents.
[Excerpt from Rio Grande Guardian report below]
"Valley Interfaith urged Congress, to reunite the 2,300-plus children who are currently in custody with their parents and electronically monitor, rather than detain theses families.
Also, it urged that pediatricians, psychologists, psychiatrists, and pediatric nurses be sent to the centers, especially those centers specializing in infants and to take swift action because under the so-called Flores Settlement, the detention of minors with or without the parents can only last up to 20 days.
“The president was the one who created this problem, through the so-called ‘zero tolerance’ policy. If you cross illegally, they will arrest you for a crime and by law they will separate you from the children, that is the problem,” Anaya said.
“We are telling them (Texas’ two senators), now we need them to pass legislation to resolve the problem, because we believe this problem will be resolved by legislation, not by executive orders; not by the president, but by their leadership.”"
[Photo Credit: Smiley N. Pool, Dallas Morning News]
Senators: We Don't Know When Immigrant Families Will Be Reunited, Rio Grande Guardian
Pause At the Border? Friday Marks First Day in a Month That No Parents, Children Separated in McAllen, Dallas Morning News
Trump Caves, Plenty of Reaction, Rio Grande Guardian
Cruz, Cornyn Joining Another Wave of Congressional Visits Amid Family Separations Outrage, The Monitor
Sister Norma, the Border's Fiercest Fighter, is 'Astute as a Serpent, and Gentle as a Dove', Dallas Morning News
Library Breaks Ground, Valley Interfaith Celebrates Win
Valley Interfaith celebrated the construction of a new library they had fought for, marking the first time in 20 years that "we feel, as citizens, as a community that we belong to the City of Pharr...it is an historic day." The library is the result of a protracted fight between Valley Interfaith leaders and the City of Pharr; the fight included success in signing up and turning out more than 1,000 new voters from Las Milpas.
Read moreValley Interfaith Upsets Pharr Election, Community Wins Big
Las Milpas, TX - A culture of disrespect towards Las Milpas residents had become so pervasive that when Valley Interfaith leaders sought funding for a local library last year, the Mayor declared: " is not a Whataburger where you pull up and give your orders....use the school library." The disrespect extended to leaving streets unpaved in the colonia over two decades and turning a blind eye to the 4-hour bus commutes of UT-RGV college students as they trudged on foot over a mile to the nearest stop. Rather than let the City's response deter them, leaders used the disdain to fuel a 7-month electoral brawl including a Get Out The Vote strategy that ultimately replaced the Mayor and deposed dismissive officials.
Valley Interfaith leaders Eddie Anaya, Claudia Garcia, Monse Martinez, and Mauro Hernandez launched a campaign to change the power structure in Pharr, starting with meetings held in homes and at churches. Says Anaya, "We knew, with Valley Interfaith, there was only one way to do this."
Read moreValley Interfaith Shakes Up Pharr City Race, Advances Agenda with New Officials
As a result of Valley Interfaith's impact on the recent Pharr city comissioners race, the newly constituted city commission has placed six of the organization's top agenda items on the agenda -- all of which are expected to be approved. At an accountability assembly three weeks prior, leader raised the issue of needed investments in parks, libraries, additional job training, a bridge across a canal to link two neighborhoods, curtailment of predatory lending, street paving and additional bus routes.
The Rio Grande Guardian reports:
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Valley Interfaith Decries Judge's Injunction, Reminds Immigrants that DACA Remains in Effect
The press conference started with the story of teacher in 2001, invited from Mexico to teach in MacAllen in 2001 -- then disinvited when 9/11 attacks led to dramatic changes in the treatment of immigrants.
Read moreValley Interfaith Urges Pharr Officials to Address Concerns of Colonias
"The most important thing about this is teaching our people to voice their opinion and understand the process," said Anaya.
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