MISSION, Texas - Three Rio Grande Valley leaders were asked how workforce development can break the cycle of poverty in the region at a health conference hosted by Western Governors University and AltaCair.
The three were Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez, UT-Rio Grande Valley Vice President Veronica Gonzales, and Texas A&M University Vice President Manny Vela.
In their program notes, WGU/AltaCair explained why they hosted the conference.
“The RGV region has 24.7 percent of families living below the poverty level, nearly triple the percentage for the United States, according to the RGV Health Connect Organization. The population struggle with diabetes, obesity, and cervical cancer among other health issues.
“The Rio Grande Regional Hospital states that an estimated 76,000 people in the region have diabetes. The COVID-19 pandemic further augmented the challenges of RGV with economic depressions and heightened inequities. The four RGV counties – Starr, Hidalgo, Willacy, and Cameron counties – are among the poorest counties in the nation and access to healthcare is unaffordable for many residents.”
The WGU/AltaCair event was titled “Accelerator 2023 RGV Health Equity Conference.” It was held at Mission Event Center.
Dr. Kimberly Kelly-Cortez, senior associate dean and director of programs at WGU’s Levitt School of Health, was also on the panel with Cortez, Gonzales and Vela.
The question posed to the four was: “This first question is pretty much just sharing a quick statistic. So, we spoke about poverty. The statistics, from the 2021 American Community Survey, show that the poverty rate for our area, the Rio Grande Valley, is 20.8%, almost double that of Texas as a whole. And we know workforce challenges and poverty go hand in hand. It's a cycle. So how do we break the cycle? How do we get creative with our workforce development?”
This video recording contains the response to the question by the four panelists:
https://youtu.be/pUuWNkFrcl4
