Proyecto Azteca is a member of the Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network; the Rio Grande Equal Voice network is a coalition of 8 non-profits located and working in Cameron and Hidalgo Counties. The Equal Voice Network took specific form after a series of five town hall meetings held across the Valley during the 2008 presidential campaign. In the spring and summer of 2008, close to 2,000 members spent several hours on Saturday mornings developing a platform designed to bring working families’ voices to the political table.
These town hall meetings, which were happening simultaneously in twelve states across the country, culminated in the Equal Voice Convention sponsored by the Marguerite Casey Foundation. More than 15,000 families gathered at three simultaneous conventions on September 8, 2008 in Birmingham AL, Chicago IL, and Los Angeles CA. Delegates to the conventions considered and then adopted an Equal Voice National Family Platform. The platform included calls for better jobs with livable wages, affordable housing, access to healthcare, and immigration reform, among others. Delegates then declared their intention to present that platform to public officials at every level of government and urge them to adopt policies to address specific points in the platform.
After attending this national convention, the Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network delegation returned, and in the fall of 2009, established six working groups to tackle the issues that our families had identified as crucial to the community’s well-being: Civic Engagement; Jobs and Economic Security; Education; Housing; Immigration; and Health Care.
The network, while composed of groups that offer direct service to thousands of families, is united by a vision of organizing our constituents into a local force for lasting social and political change to this, one of the poorest and most disenfranchised regions of the United States.
The eight organizations that form the Equal Voice Network are Marguerite Casey grantees. The organizations offer a range of services to the communities of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The Casey grantees, however, in addition to the value of their service, have also adopted a commitment to the creation of a social movement that would bring families to the tables of decision makers in the region.The organizations meet monthly with the intention of following up to the mandates of the national platform.
The Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network presently operates seven working groups: Immigration, Jobs, Housing, Health, Civic Engagement, Education. and LGBTQ right. The groups were formed in response to the needs identified by the region's families (during town hall meetings).
The working groups have chairs or co-chairs, and meet monthly. The membership of the working groups comes from the participating organizations, as capacity allows, and, importantly, leadership from other interested organizations in the region.Proyecto Azteca chairs the housing and health working groups and actively participates in the other five.
Rio Grande Equal Voice Network
