AltaCair Foundation Awarded $210,000 to Support Colonia Residents in Community Advocacy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Three-year Hogg Foundation grant will support advocacy education and resident leadership around policies affecting health and well-being.

EDINBURG, Texas — AltaCair Foundation has been awarded a $210,000 grant over three years from the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health through its Rio Grande Valley Policy Initiative. The funding will support AltaCair’s work alongside colonia residents to strengthen their participation in public decisions affecting their communities.

AltaCair will develop an advocacy curriculum and provide training to help residents understand government structures, identify the appropriate offices to contact, share testimony, and advocate for community needs. The goal is to support residents as spokespeople and leaders who can communicate their experiences and maintain ongoing conversations with decision-makers.

Training will cover the roles of local, state, and federal officials; how to participate in public meetings; and how to turn a community concern into a clear request for action.

The work will connect community advocacy with mental health and well-being by addressing barriers that shape families’ daily lives. Proposed policy priorities include:

• Summer food access: Exploring delivery options for school-based summer meals when transportation prevents families from reaching distribution sites.
• Transportation: Advocating for smaller local routes that improve connections between colonias and essential services.
• Address mapping: Supporting more complete inclusion of colonia residences in geographic information systems, or GIS, to help make communities visible in service planning.
• Mental health access: Working with residents to identify barriers and advocate for better access to support.

These priorities will guide conversations with residents as AltaCair develops the curriculum and works alongside communities to identify specific policy requests. For AltaCair, this initiative builds on its role as a community connector. Access to resources also depends on whether families can reach those resources—and whether their experiences inform the decisions that shape services.

The grant will help AltaCair create opportunities for residents to build advocacy skills, share their knowledge, and participate more consistently in public processes.

About AltaCair Foundation

AltaCair Foundation fosters collaborative partnerships addressing the basic healthcare needs of underserved communities across the Rio Grande Valley. Through community programs, resource connections, and partnerships, the foundation works toward its vision of a healthy Rio Grande Valley.

Learn more at www.altacairfoundation.org.

Media Contact

Elizabeth Ramirez
Director of Marketing & PR
marketing@altacairfoundation.org
956-935-6667