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Campus News - December 3, 2001 |
Partnership provides opportunity in Valley
By Carolyn Gonzales
RCRP,
Resource Center for Raza Planning; RGCDC, Rio Grande Community Development Corporation;
IHAAAS, Indio-Hispano Academy of Agricultural Arts and Sciences, Inc., sounds
a bit like alphabet soup, but like soup, when the right ingredients come together
it spells success.
The partnership between these organizations is serving the Albuquerques
South Valley socially, economically and environmentally.
A conference for HSIAC (Hispanic Serving Institutions Assisting Communities)
directors was recently held in Albuquerque. They came together from all over
the United States to share information about their respective projects. Teresa
Córdova, RCRP director and professor in the School of Architecture and
Planning, took them on a tour of projects UNM, a HSIAC institution, is engaged
in.
The group traveled to Sanchez Farm where James Maestas, IHAAAS vice president,
showed them how the HSIAC grant helped them to buy seeds and equipment to raise
corn. He also toured them through the acequia that had been cleared of brush
and weeds rendering it capable of carrying water to crops once more.
With the acequia opened, the neighborhood can move into production. The
land in the South Valley was, historically, used for agriculture. That vibrant
activity can exist once more with water flowing through the acequia, said
Córdova.
We employed 13 youth from the community custody program this summer and
five students from the South Valley Academy this fall, said Maestas, noting
that 40 bushels of corn were harvested and sold at a growers market.
The young people who helped raise the corn reaped the benefit of it,
he said. A corollary benefit is that the young people develop a relationship
with the earth and appreciate the heritage and legacy of the South Valley, says
Maestas.
Because of the relationship between the RGCDC, Indio-Hispano Academy and RCRP,
plans are underway to develop a small business incubator in the area. Through
a grant that RCRP acquired, they have the necessary funding for the first phase
of construction. Initially, the facility will house a commercial kitchen, a
daycare facility and the business incubator.
The commercial kitchen will allow South Valley growers the opportunity to present
their produce to create products for restaurants and commercial sale. This will
add value to the produce and provide economic development of the
sort desired by area residents.
We know what kind of business the South Valley residents want because
we conducted a door-to-door survey, said Córdova, adding that another
household and business survey will be conducted to assess employment, skills
training, retail and services that exist and are desired.
The commercial kitchen and the daycare facility provide area residents with
a shot at self-employment. The daycare facility is not just a place where
people can get a job at minimum wage. We intend to teach people how to become
daycare operators, said Maestas, who is retired from the Welfare to Work
program at UNM Continuing Education.
Self-employment, a component of welfare reform, is an important source
of community health and household wealth, he said.
The expertise and assistance provided by UNM, through the RCRP and Teresa Córdova,
have been critical, said Maestas.
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