Water Equity Clearinghouse

Unidos Por RGV

Rio Grande Valley, TX
ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

Unidos Por RGV is a partnership effort between La Unión Del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), A Resource in Serving Equality (ARISE), the Community Development Corporation of Brownsville, and buildingcommunityWORKSHOP to empower lower-income community members to participate in and inform University of Texas Rio Grande Valley planning activities. This work brings community stakeholders into important conversations with university administrators, faculty, and national experts on topics of education, economic development, planning, and health.

Efforts to Advance Water Equity

Unidos Por RGV engages in thoughtful and extensive community outreach to ensure they are representing communities truthfully and holistically. Recently, the organization released an Agenda for Partnership and Transformation that articulates a communal vision and goals to guide a successful partnership with the University of Texas. The agenda highlights the needs of low-income communities and develops concrete ways to collaborate in addressing the most pressing challenges. The agenda also promotes equitable development and increased prosperity for all. Unidos Por RGV hopes to address some of the challenges of water infrastructure with this agenda. The many colonias, or informal settlements, in the Rio Grande Valley lack access to proper water, wastewater, and storm drainage infrastructure, which often leads to chronic flooding and unsanitary drinking water. The agenda and partnership with the University of Texas helps address this by supporting community engaged research into water-related health challenges, promoting better planning practices, and identifying job creation opportunities to offer better employment options to colonia residents.