El Reflejo June 2015

June 2015

RODOLFO “RUDY” RAMIREZ Executive Director

EHA hosts Lantana Community Garden Ceremony

BOARD OF COMISSIONERS 2015 EDUARDO GONZALEZ CHAIRMAN

ARMANDO BARRERA VICE-CHAIRMAN

JOE RODRIGUEZ COMMISSIONER

CRIS TORRES COMMISSIONER

JUAN GUZMAN

RESIDENT COMMISSIONER

Main Office Ciro Treviño Administration Building

910 S. Sugar Rd. Edinburg, Texas, 78539 SUMMER HOURS June 1 - July 24 Mon.—Thurs.

7 a.m.—5:30 p.m.

Friday Closed

CELEBRATING RESIDENT PARTICIPATION- A group of 13 Edinburg Housing Authority residents received certificates of appreciation for their participation at the Lantana Community Garden.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015 Edinburg Housing Authority staff along with leaders in the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension in Hidalgo County, held a special ceremony to celebrate the participation of residents in the Growing and Nourishing Healthy Communities Gardening Program at the Lantana Community Garden on Wednesday, June 3, 2015.

Funded by a grant, the Texas A&M Agrilife Exten-

sion program is dedicated to educating communities about diet and exercise as well as disease prevention through research-based educational programs.

With the help of staff, Community Garden Program Assistants Ricardo Carranza and Roy Custodio, gave certificates of appreciation to 13 residents during the gathering. The recipients of the certificates were: Francisca Bueno, Maria Cano,

Students attend McAllen’s summer camp June 12, 2015

As a perfect way to kick off the summer, a group of dedicated EHA students participated in the McAllen Outdoor Adventures Camp that started June 1 and ended Friday, June 12.

Due to their engagement and dedication to their community, the 17 students were exclusively selected to be sponsored by EHA to par-

FUN IN THE SUN- 17 students who participated in the camp got to learn how to kayak.

ticipate in the two-week program.

During the camp, they

Juana Zuñiga, Karla Jimenez, Margarita Cuellar, Yerania Chavez, Antonia Torres, Guillermina Tello, Liliana Rivera, Monica Nava, Clara Martinez, Elza Lazaro and Alma Piceno.

Due to the lack of available grocery stores with locally grown produce in certain regions, Carranza shared that the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension program strives to educate individuals to be self-sufficient.

See Page 2.

Read it in The Edinburg Review.

learned from a variety of exciting educational activities like touring the Edinburg Wetlands, hiking at the McAllen Nature Center and even kayaking in the Town Lake at the McAllen Fireman’s Park. Our agency was excited to give these students the opportunities to experience the outdoors this summer!

More photos on our Facebook.

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“The goal of this program is to get people who live in a food desert to have the ability to enjoy vegetables,” said the certified Master Gardener and AgriLife Extension program assistant. “So if they don’t have the means to go to a local store to buy them… we’re providing them here.”

Currently, at the Community Garden, residents have successfully maintained 18 beds of fresh vegetables and fruits.

“What our grant does is that we provide all the materials,” explained Carranza. “We provide them (residents) a table with raised beds, but they’re the ones that have to build them.”

According to Carranza, although the funding from the grant might end in September they hope the lessons and sessions they provided

LEADERS- The Executive Director Rodolfo Rudy Ramirez met with UTPA Social Work Director Dr. Nelda Rodriguez and Dr. Lety Cabello, the students’ professor.

A MEETING- EHA staff shared information about the agency’s programs with the students.

CIRO TREVINO- The students learned about Ciro Treviño during a visit to the executive director’s office.

to supplement the gardening classes will help the residents continue the efforts.

“When Roy and I leave the program, we want them to continue with the instruction we have given them to teach other people,” said the program assistant. “We want them to take control.”

According to the Executive Director Rodolfo “Rudy” Ramirez, the agency is proud to see the residents participate and be active in their communities.

“We are extremely happy that we have so many families participating in the program,” said Ramirez.

“Hopefully, they can help in establishing gardens in our others developments that currently do not have one.”

Besides awarding residents, the program assistants also awarded the Executive

Director Rodolfo “Rudy” Ramirez, Public Housing Supervisor Liz Hernandez and Property Manager Zulema Garcia special certificates of appreciation for their commitment to the program.

GREAT JOB- Residents and After receiving the cer- kids got together for a group tificates, Ramirez shared his photo after getting their certifisurprise and gratitude towards the organization.

“We’re very appreciative that Texas A&M Agrilife Extension is helping our residents,” said the EHA executive director. “They are CERTIFICATES- EHA staff was amazing stakeholders and surprised to receive certificates we as an agency look for- of appreciation. ward to a long term relationship with them.”

More photos on EHA’s Facebook.

LANTANA GARDEN- Residents have maintained more than 18 beds of vegetables.

University students from Mexico tour EHA June 3, 2015 Social work students in the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon in Monterrey, Mexico visited our agency thanks to our partnership with The University of Texas-Pan American’s (UTPA) Department of Social Work.

Besides visiting EHA, the group of 13 students and their professor Dr. Lety Cabello also visited other public housing agencies in the Rio Grande Valley to gain perspective

LEARNING ABOUT HOUSING- Students from the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon we’re excited to learn about EHA.

on the social work role in the U.S. After learning about the various programs and educational opportunities offered to EHA residents and touring the agency departments, the group shared their admiration for the work being done and commented on the teamwork of EHA staff.

“If the philosophy imple2

mented in this agency to do more for residents was put into practice in other places, there would be less poverty in the world,” said Dr. Lety Cabello.

In light of their visit, our agency is glad to have opened our doors to them and we wish them the best in their future endeavors.

FREE BOOKS AND TUTORING- Students were happy to receive the books for their summer reading on the last day of the program.

Students receive free books for participating in EHA’s Tutoring Program May 4th, 2015 As part of our agency’s commitment to emphasize education to our residents, since 2013 we have provided EHA students with academic resources and tutoring services through our Tutoring Program.

Held every Monday at all five of our developments, the Tutoring Program served to emphasize the importance of homework completion as well as literacy. Tutors in the program ranged from dedicated high school students, EHA residents attending college, and to-

students from the UTPA America Reads Program.

During the last day of the Tutoring Program on May 4th, a Book Giveaway was held where students wrote thank you letters to their tutors and received three free books to aid their summer reading.

EHA is very proud to have helped kids these past months and is thankful for the great work by staff who played a major role in the creation of book libraries in all of our community centers and helped lead the Tutoring Program.

More photos on EHA’s Facebook.

EHA wins 11 Texas NAHRO Awards June 25, 2015 Due to the great efforts of our staff and dedicated residents, our agency is humbly honored to share that this year Edinburg Housing Authority was awarded 11 Texas NAHRO Awards.

Among the recipients of such honors were: Executive Director of the Year to Rodolfo “Rudy” Ramirez; Commissioner of the Year to Eduardo “Ed” Gonzalez; Community Service Award to Dr. Francisco Guajardo; Administrative Person

of the Year to Gracie Mujica; Manager of the Year to Eric Aranda; and Maintenance Person of the Year to Agustin Miranda.

Our agency is also blessed to have received the following media awards: Best Annual Report; Best Newsletter; Best Media Recognition; and Best Other Publications. Once again we thank everyone for their commitment to work hard and their desire to make a difference in the lives of those we serve.

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A STUDENT LEADER- Gladys Sanchez will be completing an internship program in Missouri June 26 before CHCI NextGen in DC.

Resident gets accepted into CHCI’s R2L NextGen Program in Washington D.C. We are very proud to announce that Gladys Sanchez, a 17-year-old resident of El Jardín, was recently selected to participate in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s R2L NextGen program this summer.

The R2L NextGen Program provides Latino high school students with the opportunity to spend a week exploring the city of Washington, D.C. and learning about its incredible role in our nation.

This year the one-week program will be taking place July 26-31, 2015.

Sanchez, who is now a senior at IDEA Quest College Preparatory, has been a resident of EHA since 2007. Among her community involvement and many extra-curric-

ular activities, she is also an active member of the EHA Youth Leadership Association and was a tutor during our Tutoring Program.

Besides being accepted into the R2L NextGen program, this summer she has also participated in a three-week School of Medicine Scholars Program at the Saint Louis University in Missouri.

During the program, she had the opportunity to learn and interact with other students, professors and medical professionals.

Inspired by her incredible experiences this summer, Sanchez hopes to serve as a role model in her community and help motivate her peers to follow their dreams.

Top row left to right: Rodolfo “Rudy” Ramirez, Executive Director; Eduardo “Ed” Gonzalez, Chairman; Eric Aranda, Manager. Bottom left to right: Agustin Miranda, Maintenance; Olga Regalado, Section 8 Supervisor; Claudia Lemus, Media Coordinator; Valerie Reyes in place of resident Maria Casares; Gracie Mujica, Application Intake; Liz Hernandez, Public Housing Supervisor. Not in the picture: Dr. Francisco Guajardo.

Do you know an Achiever?

Along with redesigning our website, we have created the EHA Achievers Blog to highlight the outstanding efforts of students pursuing a higher education, outstanding residents and interns that come gain valuable work experience at our agency.

To view the EHA Achievers Blog please visit www.ehaachievers.blogspot.com.

If you know any EHA students that have or are currently attending college as well as any residents that have accomplished outstanding things, please contact us so that we can feature them in the blog. To let us know you may call Claudia Lemus or Daniela Granados at 956-383-3839 or via email at clemus@edinburgha.org.

Join YLA!

EHA welcomes any housing students 13 to 19-years-old to join the Youth Leadership Association!

If you have a child that would like to be a part of the Youth Leadership Association or learn more, he/she can contact Diego Oros at doros@edinburgha.org or call 956-383-3839.

EHA Summer Activities La Posada Apartments

Music Classes

July 6, 2015 - August 13, 2015 The Summer Activities will be hosted by the Edinburg Housing Authority. All classes for EHA students will be taught by accredited ECISD teachers. More times and information will be provided soon. For any questions contact your property managers at 956-383-3839.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS Rent deadline

Resident Council Meeting

Due monthly by the 1st, but EHA gives you until the 5th to pay in full. There is a $15 fee for late payments.

Interested in finding out what’s happening at EHA or your development? Come find out at our next Resident Council Meeting. Meetings are led by the Executive Director Rodolfo “Rudy” Ramirez and residents.

Our next meeting will be:

Community service

July 16, 2015 @10 a.m at El Jardin

Residents 18+ years old who are not employed 30 hours or more a week or are not full-time students, must comply with the 8 hour HUD’s community service requirement.

Contact your property managers for the complete schedule of days and locations of our next meetings.

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