El Reflejo November 2015

A publication of the Edinburg Housing Authority.

EL REFLEJO Volume 1 Issue 11

RODOLFO “RUDY” RAMIREZ Executive Director

November 2015

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend actress Gabrielle Ruiz, visits EHA

BOARD OF COMISSIONERS 2015 JOE RODRIGUEZ CHAIRMAN

ARMANDO BARRERA VICE-CHAIRMAN

EDUARDO GONZALEZ COMMISSIONER

ELIAS LONGORIA COMMISSIONER

JUAN GUZMAN

RESIDENT COMMISSIONER

Main Office Ciro Treviño Administration Building

910 S. Sugar Rd. Edinburg, Texas, 78539 REGULAR HOURS Mon.—Thurs.

8 a.m.—5:30 p.m.

Friday 8 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Stay updated!

Visit us today

DANCE CLASSES- Youth and staff from the Edinburg Housing Authority with actress, singer, choreographer and Edinburg native Gabrielle Ruiz.

Actress, singer, and Edinburg native Gabrielle Ruiz visited the Edinburg Housing Authority (EHA), for the second time, in order to teach dance lessons at the Albores Courts Diaz Gymnasium on Nov. 21.

Ruiz encouraged our residents to dance, sing, and hold on to their dreams as they learned the musical number “96,000” from In the Heights.

With an attendance of close to 60 participants, which included residents, EHA staff, volunteers and interns, the event was a huge success. Ruiz really encouraged all the participants to never loose sight of their dreams so that one day they

could make them a reality. day nights at 7 p.m. All the participants had a great time and are were very grateful for the time Ms. Ruiz took out of her schedule in order to teach them some fun dance moves.

On behalf of everyone here at EHA and all the resiDANCE - EHA youth dancing dents, thank you Ms. Ruiz! to “96,000” from the Musical In the Heights.

Ruiz has been in numerous Broadway productions that have toured the nation.

Some of these include West Side Story, High School Musical, and 42nd Street.

However, currently she is Valencia on the ongoing popular sitcom Crazy Ex-Girlfriend on The CW television network Mon-

SMILE - Picture left to right: Leah Rios and Gabrielle Ruiz.

This month’s highlights * Courses, Page 2 * Smoke-Free/Say no to smoking, Page 2 * Announcements, Page 4 * Random acts, Page 3

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The Edinburg Housing Authority (EHA) goes smoke-free!

We proudly announce that the Edinburg Housing Authority Board of Commissioners approved the proposed EHA smoke-free policy by unanimous vote on Nov. 19. This policy would make all six developments: Albores Courts, El Jardin, Lantana, La Posada, Peridot and Viviendas M. Ramirez completely smoke-free in two phases. The Ciro Trevino Administration Building is already a no smoking zone.

The policy was adopted following the strict State Department

of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidelines that took over six weeks to process before the final approval.

We have partnered up with Uniting Neighbors in Drug Abuse and Defense - Tobacco Prevention & Control Coalition (UNIDAD TPCC) in order to help current and future residents quit smoking. The residents, applicants and contractors will be sent a notification soon along with a copy of the approved EHA smoke-free policy.

Say no to Smoking! EHA participates in the nationwide Smoke-out Event For the first time ever the Edinburg Housing Authority (EHA) participated in the nationwide Great American Smokeout event on Nov. 19.

A number of residents and staff pledged to quit smoking as a part of our commitment to implement a health- PLEDGE: An elderly EHA resident ier way of living. EHA dedicated all pledging to live a smoke-free life.

Giveaways along with helpful inits efforts to provide and meet its residents’ needs and interests in order to formation was given out to the reshelp any one who wants to quit smok- idents, employees, volunteers and ing succeed in meeting their goals. interns. As for those who needed assistance in creating a plan in order to quit smoking UNIDAD - TPCC members were available to help.

We would like to give a special shout out to Tobacco Prevention & Control Coalition, the American Cancer Society, the Department of PLEDGE: An applicant pledging to quit smoking.

Social Work of UTRGV, and EHA The Smokeout event took place in staff for their efforts in makings this all 5 EHA developments and at the Ciro event a great success. Going door to Trevino Administration Building. door and inviting people personally really helped ensure maximum par-

ticipation for the smokeout event.

EHA looks forward to the new transitions that are going to be taking place in the year to come. We want what’s best for our residents and our goal is to educate, transform and empower their lives. We hope that the smokeout event helped individuals find answers and solutions to questions or concerns they might have had. We hope to continue participating in the nationwide Great American Smokeout event in order to continue implementing a healthier way of living.

OUTREACH: YLA and UNIDAD -TPCC members encouraging member to participate at the smokeout event.

Sweets, treats and decorating kits!

Thanks to the efforts of our interns and the assistance of Mr. Ramirez, cake decorating courses were able to start at the Kara Shearer community center at Ramirez. The course will allow them to learn cake decorating skills, network, better their communication skills, practice and improve their English, build an artistic eye, and develop and strengthen their creativity skills. If you would like more information and have any questions or comments please feel free to contact our volunteer Amy Martinez at (956) 560-3083.

Create a beautiful Arch with... Balloons?

Thanks to the efforts of Sulema Razo, our Social Work intern coordinator, residents from La Posada were able to learn new skills, network and get new creative ideas for this season’s festivities. Residents worked together to create an arch made out of balloons. Fantastic job everybody!

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Random acts of kindness brings joy when least expected Surprise Donation

The Edinburg Housing Authority received a last minute donation of 20 turkeys on Nov. 29. We would like to thank Rick Villarreal from Farmers Insurance and Gus Kennedy from Communities in Schools for their generous donation! This donation allowed 20 more families from our developments to enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving meal.

Workout, sweat and give

There is no better combination than working out and giving. Crossfit Grande Valley held a can drive and collected over 200 cans. All which were donated to EHA in order to create meal packages to give out to families from the city of Edinburg and EHA residencies.

Coming together to serve the great city of Edinburg More than 380 families had a wonderful meal on Thanksgiving day thanks to the efforts of the city of Edinburg. On Nov. 24 the Edinburg Housing Authority (EHA) participated on an initiative that was led by the City of Edinburg, Parks and Recreation Department. EHA along with HEB and local schools partnered with the city to collect turkeys and canned food in order to create meal packages to give out to families of the local community. Thanks to the volunteer service of the Edinburg PD all the collected goods were distributed to the families just in time for the Thanksgiving celebrations. No greater joy is found but in that of giving. We would like to give special thanks to the city of Edinburg, HEB, Edinburg PD, and the Edinburg Parks and Recreation for all your efforts and time that made this give away a huge success.

“Thanksgiving Day is a good day to recommit our energies to giving thanks and just giving.” - Amy Grant.

Whiskey D. Band 3rd Annual Toy Drive Playing for toys! The Whiskey D. Band held a beneficiary concert in order to collect toys for the youth of the Edinburg Housing Authority. We are very thankful for their kind act and we can’t wait to see the smiles on children’s faces due to this great contribution.

The event was a huge success, look at all the toys they were able to collect due to people’s generous hearts. Can’t thank them enough. To all who donated

toys thank you and to the Whiskey D. Band a special thanks for all your efforts in putting this event together in order to provide gifts to the youth of our agency.

“It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”

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HOMEWORK HELP IS HERE! EHA is glad to announce its fall 2015 homework help session, which started Sept. 28 and continues throughout the academic year. The session is from 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Mondays at La Posada, Ramirez and Albores; Tuesdays at Lantana ; and Mondays and Thursdays at El Jardin. All students from EHA are welcome to attend the session and get help with their homework. If you have any further questions regarding the homework help session, please contact Araceli Porras @ (956) 383-3839.

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 learn more about or be a part of the Youth Leadership Association, he/ she can contact Diego Oros at doros@edinburgha.org or call him @ 956-383-3839.

Do you know an Achiever?

Achievers Blog Underconstruction!

Back on 2016

IMPORTANT REMINDERS Resident Meeting

Rent deadline

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

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

Community service

Dec. 17, 2015 @10 a.m at Albores

Residents 18+ years old who are not exempt must volunteer 8 hours a month in order to comply with HUD’s Community Service Requirement.

Please make arrangements to attend and receive one hour of community service.

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Stay updated!

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