Edinburg, TX (KRGV) — The Altacair Foundation is launching a new program to help families living in colonias.

The nonprofit received a $210,000 grant from the Hogg Foundation to start the Colonia Residents Engaged in Civic Empowerment project, or CRECE. The project would include classroom lessons scheduled to begin in March of next year.

“So it's almost going to be like a class, a course that we have to teach the residents, and then comes the practicum to understand local governance and how they can advocate for the specific local policies so that they can resolve the issues of their specific areas,” Altacair Foundation CEO Rashmi Chandran said. 

Chandran says one goal is to advocate for free transportation to help children access food throughout the year.

"We will be more than likely starting our first project in San Carlos, and we hope to have at least 10 candidates, and that will vary according to the needs that that community has to advocate for," Chandran said.

Pastor Hipólito Rivera Silva said his church, Iglesia Castillo del Rey in Edinburg, serves people in the Mountain View colonia near San Carlos and other surrounding colonias. Rivera Silva and his church have helped about 1,200 families over the past two years.

“We have tried to meet some basic needs, such as food, shelter, meals and school supplies,” Pastor Hipólito Rivera Silva said.

Rivera Silva said people in some colonias also struggle to find out who to contact when their communities need help. 

“Someone has to take it upon themselves to make that happen. And if I'm the one who has to do it, well, then I'm willing to step up and do it,” Rivera Silva said.

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