HEdEdinburg Housing Authority (EHA) Executive Director Rudy Ramirez had the privilege to join the honorable Julian Castro, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, along with Rep. Ruben Hinojosas’ delegates, KRGV Channel 5 news anchor Letty Garza and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) President Dr. Guy Bailey for a forum held Oct 9 at UTRGV
The forum primarily focused on affordable housing issues, education, and prospective economic opportunities relevant to the local community of the Rio Grande Valley.
Julian Castro was born in San Antonio on Sept. 16, 1974. He attended both Stanford University and Harvard Law School Castro was the youngest San Antonio City Council member and the first Hispanic ever to deliver the keynote address at a Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina in September 2012
He later became the mayor of San Antonio and today serves as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
As the current executive director of the EHA, Ramirez is empowering the residents by providing them with educational resources and implementing many programs to help and further lead EHA residents to a more successful life
Dr. Guy Bailey, who was formally appointed May 20, 2014, as the UTRGV president, welcomed forum participants to the afternoon session and Letty Garza moderated the forum.
The questions mostly focused on initiatives accomplishments and issues
Castro has dealt with in his life as a citizen, mayor and now as HUD secretary.
Ramirez had the opportunity to share about his recent initiatives at EHA. He mentioned the demographics and statistics, which currently make up the EHA population and emphasized the importance of education.
Ramirez also mentioned the partnerships established with different UTRGV colleges and departments.
Bailey closed the afternoon, offering remarks about UTRGV and the changes that will be occurring because of the
new medical school and future programs they will be offering.
He showed much appreciation for the attendees and distinguished guests, and thanked Hinojosa for making the forum possible and inviting Castro to UTRGV
The Edinburg Housing Authority welcomed six social work interns from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley who will be assisting our residents for the fall semester.
This year our agency ' s interns are Amy Martinez, Aracely Medina, Joana Martinez, Maria Lopez, Rosaena Treviño, and Rosalinda Gonzalez.
All six interns will be
learning from valuable field experience in our agency and completing rigorous curriculum before graduating in December 2015
They will work alongside staff in order to grow and learn from one another as the agency continues to better develop, strengthen, and empower EHA and its vision.
“I’m excited to work
with everyone, gain experience, learn,” said Gonzalez, a wife, mother, and student
“Learn from the experience and gain knowledge for my career,” said Medina, who wants to help people in need.”
EHA will continue to give the university students the opportunity to work alongside the agency in order to expose students of
the community to new environments, introduce them to issues that need to be solved, and continue to motivate them to help change the world
We look forward to nourishing the minds of these passionate students and providing them with many learning opportunities this semester.
Pictured from left to right are Olga Regalado, Section 8 supervisor, Amy Martinez, Maria Lopez, Rosaena Treviño, Joana Martinez, Liz Hernandez, Public Housing supervisor, Rosalinda Gonzalez, and Aracely Medina.
Courtesy Photo
Ed res
The Edinburg Housing Authority (EHA) held a certificate awards ceremony Dec 15 for the elderly residents of the Edinburg Towers development.
The awards ceremony was due to the residents’ completion of art therapy and yoga laughter classes taught by certified instructors over the past few months These classes were sponsored by EHA and organized and initiated by EHA - UTRGV Social Work interns, Sulema Razo, Amy Martinez, and Joana Martinez These courses, organized
specifically for the elderly residents, took place over a seven-month period. The yoga course took place in the summer from June to August and was conducted by instructor Laura Hawk. The art course, taught by Yvonne Bollari, began in July and concluded in December.
During the awards ceremony held at the Edinburg Towers site, the residents were recognized by EHA Executive Director, Rodolfo “Rudy” Ramirez, who congratulated and presented each resident a certificate of completion.
Following the instructors, Laura Hawk and Yvonne Bollari received special certification was Lorenzo Zavala, for playing music at the art therapy sessions.
The event included a small reception which included food, music and a raffle for all those present. EHA would like to thank the interns for organizing these courses and instructors for donating their time to help our elderly residents. The success of the event and its impact has been achieved without the efforts of all those involved.
EHA would like to give a special thanks to Dr. Julie Posavant, LCSW, and Department Chair, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), for the ongoing partnership between the Department of Social Work and EHA It is because of partnerships like these that allow us to develop and empower EHA residents. Once again, congratulations to the residents for their hard work and thanks to the Housing Authority, and interns for this event.
In an effort to do more for senior citizens, this summer the Edinburg Housing Authority (EHA) has offered free art therapy classes for the elderly population at The Towers development.
The efforts have been led by Jennifer Ledesma and Sulema Razo, two social work interns from the University of TexasPan American (UTPA).
According to Ledesma, the idea for the classes came from their desire to help EHA do something to help senior residents interact with one another.
“We wanted to give them an opportunity to socialize,” said Ledesma.
The art classes are taught by Yvonne Bollair at 3 p.m. every Monday at The Towers Community Center in Edinburg. About 15 to 20 residents attend the classes each week.
According to the EHA Executive Director
Courtesy Photo
Rodolfo “Rudy” Ramirez, placing interns at the Towers Community has been possible thanks to the collaboration with the UTPA School of Social Work.
“This is the first time we have interns at the
Towers,” Ramirez said. “We hope to continue having social work students there to help our residents ”
The teacher explained that art’s therapeutic effects help elderly citizens express their emotions, relieve stress and improves their self-esteem.
“When people paint, they change,” said Bollair.
“For the elderly residents this is like cerebral aerobics.”
Based on research conducted by The Assisted Living Federation Of America (ALFA) and American Art Therapy, art aids seniors in communicating with caregivers
and family, relieves anxiety and helps them cope with confusion and illnesses.
For Yolanda Perez, a 69year-old resident, art helps liberate her thoughts.
“I like the art classes because it helps me get away from my thoughts,” Perez shared
The class also encourages residents to do their best and push themselves, according to the teacher
“Here I can’t does not exist,” Bollair shared. “In art there are no mistakes. They can do everything.”
More than 170 students received free services, information and school supplies at the Edinburg Housing Authority’s (EHA) Back to School Health Fair on Aug 13
During the event, students received a variety of school supplies donated by members of the community like Attorney Marissa Hernandez, books on behalf of the South Texas Literacy Coalition and obtained free haircuts from the Mission Barber School
About 32 organizations and individuals contributed to the Back to School Fair, including the UTPA ROTC and Edinburg Parks & Recreation who helped set up tables and prepare school supply bags.
Some of the city and state organizations that attended the Back to School Bash included: Edinburg Public Library, Edinburg Fire Department, Texas Department of State Health Services, WIC, Edinburg Scenic Wetlands & World Birding Center and the Hidalgo County Health Department
Several local businesses and nonprofit organizations also provided information during the event like Nuestra Clínica del Valle, Rio Grande Regional Hospital, Dynamic Children’s Therapy, South Texas Training Center, Los
Reyes Home Care, Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas, UTPA HEP, Donate Life Texas, Easter Seals Hopes Program, Center for Pain Management, Hope, Tobacco Prevention and Control Coalition and the Texas A&M University Colonias Program.
A dental health outreach was also done by Smile Magic Dental & Braces, Rodeo Dental & Orthodontics and Aqua Dental.
Due to President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, a federal statute which offers subsidies in an effort to expand access to affordable health insurance for low-income people, six health
insurance companies also distributed information to residents about their services and this year’s Open Enrollment Period which will be from Nov. 1 to Jan. 31, 2016.
The health insurance companies that attended were: Health PSA Health Care, Driscoll Health Plan, Enroll America, United Health Care, Cigna Health Spring and Superior Health Plan
According to EHA staff, the event was possible thanks to the efforts of six interns from the University of Texas-Pan American School of Social Work. The interns who helped were Fabian Grimaldo, Danielle Vasquez, Jennifer
Danielle Vasquez, Jennifer Ledesma, Laura Pequeño, Stephanie Ramirez and Sulema Razo
“The UTPA Social Work interns did an outstanding job in putting together our event,” said EHA Public Housing Supervisor Liz Hernandez “It was a big success. There were lots of smiles.”
Due to the great turnout of this year’s event, the Edinburg Housing Authority plans to continue offering events like the Back to School Health Fair to residents
