Health advocates celebrate promotoras office opening

SAN JUAN — More than 300 health care professionals who assist and educate low-income families in South Texas now have a place to call home.

South Texas Promotoras Association Inc. celebrated the grand opening of its first headquarters Tuesday morning at the San Juan Community Center.

Association Treasurer Mary Ybarra said the new space, at 509 E. Nolana, was loaned to them by Hidalgo County Precinct 2. She does not know if they will remain there permanently.

The promotoras, community health workers, began their initiative in 1996 but did not become an association until 1999. Since then, the South Texas organization has grown to become the state’s largest promotora association.

The group, comprised mostly of women, reaches out to people they say are underserved in colonias and rural communities from Brownsville to Laredo.

Ybarra said the women volunteer and are not paid by the association, but she added that companies occasionally hire some of the women to perform promotora work.

Nora Amaya of Hidalgo has been a community health worker for more than 12 years. She said there are certain requirements they must meet.

“A promotora has to be certified by the Texas Department of State Health Services,” she said. “We have to take 10 college hours and receive 10 hours of training before we can get certified.”

Gloria Garcia of Brownsville, one of the association’s founding members, said it was crucial for the group to have a place to meet.

“Before, we had to work out of different places,” Garcia said. “One day here, the other over there, but now we have a place of our own.”

The office will serve as a place to organize meetings and schedule training seminars.

Promotoras must continue to train even after certification has been granted, because they must renew their license every two years, Amaya said.

They receive training in communication, service coordination, capacity-building, advocacy and teaching, among other skills.

Community health worker Ana Delgado said they help families become aware of benefits and services that are available to them. She recalls helping the De Leon family of six get dentistry for the children.

“There are a lot of people out there who, because of fear, don’t reach out for help,” Delgado said. “We deal with many undocumented parents who are scared to get services for their children because they fear it might be some sort of trick to get them out of the country, and their children are American citizens who deserve the help.”

Rosalba Teran agrees.

She knows firsthand how difficult it can be for someone unfamiliar with the system to get help.

Teran, who went to school in Mexico to become a social worker, moved to the Rio Grande Valley in 1986. She said she felt lost and depressed until she met Garcia, who as an outreach worker gave her assistance. Teran, who always felt like a leader in her family, believed it was her duty to get involved in the community, so she became a promotora 10 years ago.

Many of the women present at the grand opening of the new headquarters said they share a feeling of unity and are glad to finally have a place where they can continue to meet to help others.