WESLACO — The city of Weslaco is officially home to MHP Salud’s first office site in Texas, where they hope to decrease the number of uninsured residents in a region particularly in need of healthcare coverage: the Rio Grande Valley.

Now located at 512 S. Westgate Drive, Suite B in Weslaco, MHP Salud is a national nonprofit organization that focuses on improving access to health care in underserved communities through its Community Health Worker, or CHW programs.

According to Jill Spannagel, vice president of community initiatives for MHP Salud, 1 in every 3 residents are uninsured in Hidalgo County alone.

U.S. Census Bureau data also shows that 23.5% of Cameron County residents do not have health insurance.

Public officials and health experts have long-attributed aggravating factors in the area to a high poverty rate (25.42%, according to census data), while the National Institutes of Health found a 55% prevalence rate of obesity, 39% of hypertension, 32.5% of diabetes and 19% of depression in the Valley.

The region’s lack of access to healthcare services often comes into focus each time a local hospital system signals the implementation of new surgical and medical procedures that were previously unavailable in the region.

In short, the Valley struggles with health.

Spannagel says the organization is aware of this and has observed an increase in uninsured residents. She also believes this is due to several factors but pointed more prominently to the current state of the economy.

More residents who get insured in the Valley, however, can have a ripple effect.

“Medical bills and hospital bills are the primary reason why people are filing bankruptcy,” Spannagel said. “It could literally take away your savings.”

She emphasizes the importance of prioritizing one’s health, adding that the best way to do that is through health education in addition to insurance.

MHP Salud Vice President of Community Initiatives Jill Spannagel speaks during a ribbon cutting ceremony at the nonprofit’s new location in Weslaco on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (RGV Photo + Video)

 

At MHP Salud, they help residents with application assistance through their navigator program and review the Health Insurance Marketplace and other options.

They also help with applications for government programs such as Medicaid and CHIP through their Connecting Kids to Coverage program.

“For the most part we serve underserved communities … and we really want to try to help them get focused and connected to other resources,” Spannagel said. “We do a holistic assessment on folks and try to get them to the needed resources that would help their family.”

As of now, MHP serves six different regions and 67 counties, and they hope to continue serving those areas from their Weslaco office.

According to Andrea McNally, director of communications and public relations for MHP, they established an office in Weslaco because they see a “need here for people to get more education and connect with more resources.”

Along with application assistance, MHP also has programs such as the Parents as Teachers program that focuses on teaching parents about child development, providing parenting support and community resource referrals.

Other programs include its Nutrition Assistance Program Education where they promote healthy weight among families by helping participants improve their diet and exercise.

Weslaco Mayor Adrian Gonzalez expressed gratitude for MHP Salud’s efforts to help Valley communities during a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday celebrating its opening in the city.

“I just want to congratulate you guys … all the staff on all the hard work that you do and for dedicating this to help our community and the surrounding communities,” Gonzalez said.

For information on how to apply for these services, contact MHP Salud at (956) 968-3600, via email at info@mhpsalud.org, or by visiting the Weslaco location.

Read the full article as originally published by Rio Grande Guardian: https://riograndeguardian.com/stories/dante-strong-fathers-build-strong-foundations,15269

Paving the path for positive childhood outcomes through dedicated fatherhood initiatives

The beauty in our community is reflected in our neighbors’ deep desires to create strong foundations for the next generation, in our families’ passion to create hope and opportunities, and in our genuine belief that, together, we will build the future we believe children in the Rio Grande Valley deserve.

But amidst the beauty of hope lies the threat of statistics – numbers trying to write a story we at MHP Salud refuse to believe. These numbers fail to see the potential we experience daily … yet, without the right support and resources, these numbers also can lead to devastating consequences.

In Hidalgo and Cameron counties, more than 1 in 3 children live in poverty. That stat alone can lead to toxic stress in childhood that threatens to interfere with brain development and healthy system function … leading to an increased risk for challenges with physical and mental health, social-emotional development, learning success, and even future employment. And though this impacts all demographics, it disproportionately affects Black, Hispanic and Indigenous children – which should put all of us on high alert.

Yet, while economic status attempts to predict potential, MHP Salud believes family, community and support can – and will – trump that prediction for our children.

That’s why we’re excited to be one of only three Texas-based community nonprofit organizations to receive funding from the national Parents as Teachers challenge grant to elevate child outcomes in our community.

This will enhance MHP Salud’s Parents as Teachers program, generously funded by Methodist Healthcare Ministries, which empowers parents to become their children’s first teachers as they create safe, strong family foundations. Through this challenge grant, MHP is able to add a dedicated fatherhood component, recognizing the important role of dads.

Partnering with a local Fatherhood Ambassador – a proud dad who actively participates in the program – MHP Salud looks forward to increasing father engagement within our families, supporting strong and healthy father-child bonds, and encouraging dads as they see their own potential, influence and impact.

Because, while stats want to illustrate despair, studies paint hope. Research, while still in early stages, shows fathers who are active in their children’s lives at a young age can mitigate the toxic stress that accompanies family economic stress. From the beginning, positive father engagement can reduce cognitive delay in infants, improve weight gain in pre-term infants and even boost early language schools.

The impact only continues … young children with active fathers are more likely to begin school on track and ready to learn, more likely to handle ongoing stressors, and less likely to engage in risky behaviors as adolescents.

Some studies even show that children with secure attachments with their fathers have higher IQs and better language, math and cognitive skills – all invaluable as youth grow into adulthood.

Fathers’ influence on the future of our community’s children is indisputable.

But it will take all of us to rally around our families, to support our fathers and to build strong foundations for our children.

If you know a father of young children, please tell them about MHP Salud – we would love to support them on the most important journey of their life.

Or, if you want to be part of supporting this transformational initiative, please contact MHP Salud – there will always be a way for you to get involved.

Together, we will topple the odds statistics stack against our children. We will replace them with the beauty that is the Rio Grande Valley.