Tag Archives: Project Vida

Project Vida officials announced Tuesday that the organization received a $25,000 grant from Bank of America to help foster economic prosperity for low- and moderate-income Latinx entrepreneurs.

“We are excited to partner with Bank of America to provide support for low- and moderate-income Hispanic micro-entrepreneurs in El Paso,” said Bill Schlesinger, Project Vida Co-Director. “This grant will allow us to further offer technical assistance to micro-businesses in El Paso, retain and create jobs, and sustain growth in these enterprises.”

According to Project Vida officials, the funds will help expand the services provided by their Microenterprise Technical Assistance Program (MTAP), including business and financial literacy, management skill-building, and technical training through mentorship.

According to the 2010 census, more than 82 percent of the El Paso community is Hispanic. However, when starting or growing a business, minorities can face significant barriers to accessing resources that increase their potential for success.

Through MTAP, Project Vida aims to remove those barriers and empower Hispanic microenterprises, ensuring they are supported and given the tools to create a sustainable business model.

“Latino entrepreneurs are among the fastest growing segments in the country, and that’s especially true here in El Paso. Bank of America is committed to supporting businesses of all sizes, which fuel our local economy,” said Crystal Bernal, Bank of America El Paso Small Business Banker.

“Our philanthropic investment acknowledges the transformational impact that Project Vida is having in El Paso and demonstrates our deep commitment to further economic mobility.”

Microenterprises in the community have seen the results from Project Vida’s MTAP program: CIMA Hardware was able to improve its accounting through technology, efficiently increase inventory and pursue a loan; Guaderrama’s Flowers opened a storefront and expanded refrigeration to allow for additional capacity; and a new client, Volume Lash Lounge, has recently revised its business plan and financial projections to expand to a second, larger location.

A not-for-profit agency dedicated to comprehensive programs supporting the El Paso community, Project Vida began serving the Chamizal neighborhood of south-central in 1991. Since then, the agency has expanded both services and the communities it serves to become one of El Paso’s largest social impact agencies.

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso and its clinical practice, Texas Tech Physicians of El Paso, have partnered with the Paso Del Norte Health Information Exchange (PHIX) to improve patient care in the Borderland.

“TTUHSC El Paso and TTP El Paso have been close partners of PHIX for many years,” said Emily Hartmann, executive director for PHIX. “We are thrilled that they are now sharing data through the health information exchange. Their partnership is vital to improving care coordination and quality in our community.”

Established as a nonprofit health information exchange (HIE) in the El Paso region, the mission of PHIX is to improve health through collaboration and data technology.

PHIX centralizes health information from different hospitals and providers to create an electronic community health record for each patient. This community health record enables providers and care managers to see the full scope of a patient’s health history across the continuum of care.

With their doctors conducting more than 200,000 clinic visits each year, TTP El Paso is the region’s largest multispecialty medical group practice. The group, with over 250 specialists and subspecialists, provides care for the entire family at several locations across El Paso.

These community health records include health information from multiple PHIX partners in the El Paso region, as well as the U.S. Veterans Administration and U.S. Department of Defense.

Health leaders in El Paso created PHIX to solve a fundamental problem in health care, which is unreliable and inefficient sharing of health information.

“When health records are not shared efficiently, care coordination is difficult, lab tests are unnecessarily repeated and patients are left struggling to remember their medications every time they see a new provider,” PHIX officials shared. “PHIX improves the efficiency, quality and safety of patient care by ensuring that providers have secure, electronic access to essential medical information at the time of care.”

PHIX follows all federal and state guidelines, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), to ensure that only authorized users have access to health data.

PHIX’s data exchange partners include TTUHSC El Paso and TTP El Paso, The Hospitals of Providence, University Medical Center of El Paso, El Paso Children’s Hospital, Emergence Health Network, Centro San Vicente, Project Vida, Centro De Salud Familiar La Fe and the City of El Paso Department of Public Health.

Canutillo area residents will now have greater access to integrated health care in their community thanks to a new partnership between the Canutillo Independent School District and Project Vida Health Center.

The federally-qualified Canutillo Northwest Health Center is now open at 7000 Fifth Street in Canutillo and will provide primary health care and behavioral health to patients of all ages.

A licensed professional counselor will be available for integrated behavioral health care.

Canutillo ISD Executive Director of Student Support Services Dr. Monica Reyes is proud of the district’s participation in making the health center a reality.

“When our superintendent, Dr. (Pedro) Galaviz, said he wanted greater access to integrated health care services for our community, we went straight to work and established a partnership with Project Vida,” Reyes said. “We are pleased to continue to further support our students and their families with complete wrap-around services that now include accessible health care.”

David Godinez, Program Manager of Navigation and Behavioral Health in Schools for Project Vida Health Center says that the program enables more convenient access to services that would otherwise be out of reach for communities that reside further from city services.

“Project Vida aims to fill the gap with access to fully integrated primary and preventive care,” Godinez said. “The fact that we are able to open a health center in the heart of Canutillo will accommodate and benefit this community greatly.”

The clinic is now open four days a week, and as demand increases, organizers say that services will expand to six days a week. Patients without insurance are charged for services according to their ability to pay based on sliding scale fees.

Canutillo ISD Superintendent Dr. Pedro Galaviz believes that the new center will greatly improve the overall physical and mental well-being of students and their families.

“When our kids and parents are healthy, they have less to worry about, and they can be more successful in school and in life,” Galaviz said.

Community organizers will celebrate the opening of the new health center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday, May 21, 2019, at 10:00 a.m.

Thanks to the participation of several local businesses, foundations and government, Project Vida‘s Microenterprise Technical Assistance Program (MTAP) has been funded to the tune of $135,000.

GECU, El Paso Electric, WestStar Bank, Hunt Family Foundation, United Way of El Paso County and the City of El Paso all contributed a to Project Vida’s MTAP – the grassroots asset-building economic development project.

Awards include El Paso Electric $10,000; GECU $10,000; WestStar Bank $5,000; Hunt Family Foundation $5,000; United Way $15,333; and the City of El Paso $90,000 from a Community Development Block Grant.

“MTAP engages marginal low- and moderate-income micro-business owners with business and financial literacy, management skill-building, and pathways to job retention and job creation,” Project Vida officials shared via a Friday morning news release.

MTAP transfers the community health worker/promotora model of outreach and trust-building to a business model of financial stability, asset-building, entry into the mainstream economy and growth toward small business status.

From 2013 to 2018, MTAP enrolled nearly 750 qualifying microenterprise owners in the program helping them retain 561 jobs and create 471 new jobs.

For more information on Project Vida or the Microenterprise Technical Assistance Program, contact Bill Schlesinger at (915) 533-7057, ext. 207, or w.schlesinger@pvida.net