Written Dec 20, 2013

In Willacy County, Texas, MHP Salud’s Transforming Texas program has been working with the Lyford Consolidated Independent School District for the last couple of months to provide the community with a Community Resource Guide that will highlight all public services (nonprofits, daycares, elected officials, medical, dental, and pharmacies) across the county.

The City of Raymondville, TX also had interest in providing its residents with a similar Resource Guide, so a Raymondville-specific guide was created. MHP has worked diligently with these two local stakeholders to complete the Resource Guides, which will help benefit the residents of the Willacy County.

MHP Salud is finally seeing its hard work in the Jim Wells County area come to fruition. The organization will be working closely with three of the School Health Advisory Council’s (SHAC) in the county and present at each school board meeting with potential ideas for which MHP Salud and Transforming Texas can offer assistance.

In the coming weeks, the Transforming Texas team plans to meet with 21st Century Community Learning Centers/ACE Program (Afterschool Centers on Education)to discuss possible future collaborations.

The program takes an indirect approach to achieving a healthy community by working with elected officials, school officials and business owners to adopt Joint Use agreements and smoking agreements to help advocate for a healthier community.

The Program Director and CHWs also work closely with local coalitions who reach out to our community and educate them on the importance of living a healthier life. Building capacity to implement evidence- and practice-based policy, environmental, programmatic and infrastructure changes aligning with Healthy People 2020 focus areas.

Transforming Texas supports the implementation of interventions to prevent heart attacks, strokes, cancer and other leading causes of death or disability.

MHP Salud has over thirty years of experience implementing CHW programs and training organizations looking to start and/or strengthen their own CHW programs. For more information about MHP Salud, our services, and how we can help you, please email us at info@mhpsalud.org