VISTA Impact Story: Rudy
Rodolfo "Rudy" Valdez
Medical Health Advisory Committee
As an AmeriCorps VISTA, Rodolfo Valdez has continued his year of service jointly with the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty (BCHP) in the Rio Grande Valley area by supporting the Medical Health Advisory Coalition (MHAC) in Weslaco, Texas. With his region situated right across the U.S.-Mexico border, the community he serves is predominantly Spanish speaking. As such, language barriers can be present, impeding efforts for families to obtain the help they need. Utilizing his fluency in Spanish, he has increased his coalition’s outreach potential by translating important pages from the organization website and promotional materials into Spanish. Through this initiative critical resources and information are now available to many more community members.
Rodolfo is currently working on improving the current website format of a “Spanish version” button per page with an entirely separate website in Spanish to streamline navigation for Spanish speakers. In order to create community cohesion and foment effective outreach, it is vital to make everyone feel welcome and bridge any gaps in communication.