WE ASKED OUR LEADERSHIP WHAT MOTIVATED THEM TO BE IN A LEADERSHIP ROLE AND HOW THEY KEEP THEIR TEAM MOTIVATED? THESE WERE THEIR RESPONSES!

Rachel V. Quintanilla, Chief Behavioral Health Officer

As is the case with most of us, the Leadership role was not something I looked forward to or aspired to take on. It came to me as a result of my time and experience and most importantly, my commitment to Project Vida, to our patients and to my team. I hope that what keeps my team motivated is the respect, support, validation and flexibility that I always try to offer them and the staff in other departments. They appreciate positive feedback and honesty just as I do from my supervisor so I try to encourage and support their professional development and try to share what I've learned as I am constantly learning from them. In total, I'm all about creating a fun and pleasant work environment where they feel appreciated and are able to shine and feel good about their work at the end of the day.

Jesus Zapata, Chief Communications Officer

Since I started working here, the mission of Project Vida was something that resonated a lot with me. Helping the community by listening to them and their needs gives you a different perspective on the different issues people face in their lives. However, it was not only that but seeing how leadership took that information and transformed it into efforts to bring programs and support to the community in order to help them. That is what motivated me to do it myself. Even though we don’t have a face-to-face job, I always try to present the whole picture to my team so they can see the impact that their work is making. That every single design, video, press release, caption, story, or anything they develop will create an impact in our community.

Bill Schlesinger, Chief Executive Officer

First of all, leadership roles aren’t the same as a job title. Leadership means being willing to take responsibility for a situation, even when someone else is ‘in charge.’ It means deciding what’s needed and doing it – with commitment and with concern for others.

A leader is one who sees a client and asks what they need – who sees a piece of paper on the floor and picks it up. Taking the lead in a situation – asking questions, staying present to others – even listening carefully to what someone else is saying and listening to what it means to them – happens when I’m concerned enough to care. Staying in touch with people – even virtually these days – pulls me into caring. Listening to what’s happening around me, figuring out what could happen better, and asking others to think with me is motivating for me.

I don’t know how to keep others motivated. I can challenge, compliment, offer help when it seems appropriate – but I find that others act out of their own sense of self and purpose, or they don’t. I don’t believe that we should try to be the ‘best.’ That measures us by the performance of others. I think we should try to be people and a team that is responsible, caring, and creative. Our ‘measurement’ is the need around us, and that is so much more than we can answer that it is overwhelming. We do what we can, and we come up short. And we know that we also are in need of caring, creativity, and compassion from one another.

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Announcements

The Project Vida Guadalupana Clinic was just recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for their dedication to Sustaining their Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition.
It’s important for our health clinics to be recognized because practices that earn NCQA Recognition demonstrate a commitment to continuous quality improvement and a patient-centered approach to care. Patients can be confident that the practice from which they receive care has been vetted based on industry-leading best practices.
All of our Project Vida Health Clinics are now PCMH recognized!
IN HIS SIX YEARS working on the streets of El Paso, Texas, Chris Bailey has spent countless hours handing out the overdose-reversing medicine naloxone. In his capacity as project coordinator with Project Vida — a local health clinic and street outreach organization — he also aids community members living with addiction.
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The NALCAB National Conference was held this past September in Washington DC for people wanting to reconnect, in person, with Latino-serving community development professionals from across the country.
Our own Project Vida coworker, Irma Avila, got the chance to attend and enjoy the conference.
If you’d like to take a look at the conference photos click here.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – A local organization dedicated to helping the Borderland’s small businesses recently secured $325,000 in two separate grants.
Project Vida’s Microenterprise Technical Assistance Program (MTAP) received $200,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration and another $125,000 from the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund for the 2022 fiscal year.
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When at the end of 2021, Leslie Martínez, then National Coordinator of the Ventanillas de Salud, called to ask if I was interested in participating in a Worker Health and Safety Capacity Building project with Migrant Clinicians Network and OSHA to instruct migrant workers on occupational health and safety, my immediate inner answer was a resounding “yes!” I was incredibly honored that my office was chosen as one of the two Ventanillas de Salud to participate in this important project in 2022.
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Project Vida continues making changes to improve the quality of life in the community. On September 22, Project Vida received a grant for $1.5 million from Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to bring to the community a new community health workers (promotoras) program.
The program called El Paso Network for CHW Learning and Development is partnering with Familias Triunfadoras Inc. to reach a total of 120 people for the duration of three years. The main goal of the program is to get new community health workers certified, upscale current community health workers and have apprenticeships for people interested in becoming a community health worker.
The grant will be used in its majority for the stipends the community health workers will receive and the rest will be going toward current personnel. The grant will also allow for the current curriculum to be updated on the latest issues.