By Tiffiney Gray
As we celebrated Mother’s Day recently, I was filled with excitement and so much appreciation for my generous, intelligent, and amazingly patient mother and mentor, Brenda Gray. I’m also thankful to be a mom to two incredible young daughters, and it’s a true delight to celebrate my friends who are also on this remarkable “mommyhood” journey. (I call it “mommyhood” because Olivia – my 19-month-old – sings “Mommy!” at least 500 times every day. I can see my fellow moms nodding their heads right now!)
Unfortunately, that joy is often tempered as I reckon with a harsh reality for women in Texas: Thousands of new moms celebrate Mother’s Day knowing they lack access to lifesaving, postpartum physical and mental health care.
Currently, Texas women enrolled in Medicaid for Pregnant Women – women in families at up to 200% of the Federal Poverty Line (FPL), or with income of $2,290/month – lose that coverage 60 days after giving birth, and only those at 14% FPL (about $251 in income per month for a family of three with two parents) can extend Medicaid coverage.
In fact, between 2016 and 2018, there were an estimated 105,000 uninsured new mothers living in Texas. That means 105,000 new moms left vulnerable to life-threatening complications and health conditions that may occur within the first year postpartum.
I worry about the mom who has an infection. The mom who has a dangerously high spike in blood pressure. The mom who needs emergency surgery. The mom who finally suspects she has postpartum depression … on day 70. I worry about these moms. And I worry about their sweet babies.
- The Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee found that nine out of 10 pregnancy-related deaths were preventable, and one-third of maternal deaths occurred 43 days to one year after pregnancy.
- The physiological strains that pregnancy puts on the body can exacerbate and have lingering effects on other unrelated (non-reproductive) systems that put a mom’s health at risk.
- The most common pregnancy-related and childbirth-related causes of death are cardiovascular diseases, excessive bleeding (or hemorrhage), infection, and cerebrovascular incidents (stroke), mental health needs, and other heart issues, which require specialty care and complex treatments.
- While 20% of postpartum health care spending occurs within the first 60 days, a whopping 70% of postpartum costs occur after 90 days within the first year after giving birth. This spending is on infrequent but urgent services like surgeries and hospitalizations.
Fortunately, there is hope! On April 14, the Texas House passed House Bill 133 – a bill that extends Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women from 60 days to 12 months after giving birth. This means that new moms are able to keep their health insurance for a full year after pregnancy, and it’s a key step toward preventing maternal deaths, addressing postpartum depression, and supporting healthy moms and babies. In fact, the Texas Maternal Mortality Review Committee’s number one recommendation to improve maternal health in Texas is “that health care coverage be extended to 12 months postpartum to help identify and properly manage health conditions before they become life-threatening.”
Extending postpartum Medicaid will save women’s lives. It will allow access to comprehensive healthcare services; strong and established physician provider networks; and critical services like surgery, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations.
Some contend that existing state programs – such as Healthy Texas Women (HTW) and Healthy Texas Women Plus (HTW+) – meet the same postpartum needs as Medicaid. HTW+ even includes some provisions for screening and treatment of chronic conditions (like diabetes and high blood pressure) and postpartum depression. But the services available to moms with HTW and HTW+ are limited in scope and just don’t measure up as adequate alternatives to the health insurance that Medicaid offers.
New mothers desperately need access to the full range of healthcare services that Medicaid makes possible. And new babies need care and nurturing from moms who are at their healthiest — their survival and development depend on it.
House Bill 133 passed with tremendous bi-partisan support in the House but is currently stalled in the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. Which leads me to ask the question…
Why aren’t we more motivated to ensure healthcare for new moms?
Fellow moms, think about how vulnerable you felt your first six weeks, 12 weeks … even six months after giving birth. Grandmothers, do you remember helping your adult daughters navigate those first three months with a newborn? It’s hard. It’s scary. It requires tremendous emotional and hands-on support from family. It is not the moment to pull the rug out from under new mothers most in need of societal support.
One thing that has become abundantly clear during the year of COVID is that mothers are, in fact, the foundation of our society and economy. Mothers with means. Mothers in poverty. Married moms. Single moms. Working moms. Stay-at-home moms.
Mothers watchfully nurture infants, keep them alive and healthy, and take on the task of developing resilient, self-sufficient people who grow up to become contributing adults. The least we can do is support healthcare legislation that improves the chances of survivability for new moms who need a little more help.
I want a few things for Mother’s Day this year. Healthy, thriving daughters. The laughter and delight of family and friends. And I wouldn’t turn down breakfast in bed. But it’s time to put more than flowers, jewelry, and cards in our Mother’s Day baskets. It’s time to enact legislation that tells every new mom in Texas that she is respected enough to support her full physical, psychological, and emotional recovery from bringing a new baby into this world.
Tiffiney Gray is senior content specialist for health initiatives with Prosper Waco.
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email Ferrell Foster at [email protected].
By Paula Rivadeneira
Since May 2020, every healthy or treatable animal that left Waco Animal Shelter is living their best life in a forever home, with their original owner or with a trusted nonprofit rescue partner. The Humane Society of Central Texas can offer these positive outcomes because of a program that aims to keep healthy stray animals out of the shelter so staff can focus their efforts on the animals who need the most help.
Through the Positive Alternatives to Shelter Surrender (PASS) program, Good Samaritans who find stray animals are discouraged from bringing the animals to the shelter, but instead are provided with resources and a series of steps to try to get that animal safely back home. By following the steps, the animal never enters the shelter, which means the finder does not pay a surrender fee, the owner does not pay a reclaim fee, and the animal is not subjected to shelter life, which can cause fear, anxiety, stress, and frustration, often having lasting effects.
Plus, if the shelter is full and more stray animals are coming in, the shelter may have to euthanize animals to make space. They have not done this in well over a year, and they have no plans on ever having to do that again, as long as the community embraces PASS and is willing to play their part and hold onto healthy stray animals until the owner is found.
The steps to locating an owner are easy:
- Snap a photo of the animal, note the nearest cross streets, and post it on the “Central Texas Lost and Found Pets” Facebook page where over 53,000 people will help you locate the owners.
- Knock on doors in the neighborhood and ask delivery drivers if they recognize the animal.
- If you can’t find the owner in the neighborhood, bring the animal to a veterinarian’s office, animal shelter, animal rescue, or Waco fire house where they can scan for a microchip.
- If there is a microchip, look it up on petmicrochiplookup.org and contact the owner. If there is no microchip or the owner cannot be located, file a Found Pet Report by calling the Humane Society at 254-754-145.4 (the report will soon be available online, too.)
- Finally, call Waco Animal Shelter’s Intake Department at 254-750-7090 and tell them you found a pet and you would like to surrender it if you cannot locate the owner. They will give you an appointment in three business days to surrender the animal to the shelter. The Humane Society can provide you with food, bed, blankets, and other supplies to help you hold onto the animal for those three days. If there’s absolutely no way for you or someone you know to hold onto the animal, the shelter will take in the animal for a $50 surrender fee. But, if you can hold the animal for at least three days and you can show that you followed all the steps to find the owner, the surrender fee will be waived.
In bigger cities, like El Paso, this program has resulted in over 30% of stray animals going home in less than 48 hours. Here in Waco, our return-to-home rate should be even higher.
We have all spent our lives thinking that the best thing to do when you find a stray animal is to bring it to the animal shelter, but that was when animals were euthanized every day for space, including here in Waco.
Do the math: The shelter can hold 115 medium and large dogs, and they intake 5-25 new dogs every day. That means that even if the shelter were empty right now, it could fill up in one week.
The answer to shelter crowding should not be euthanizing animals. The answer is decreasing intake numbers by engaging the community to help stray animals get home and avoid the shelter altogether.
Waco loves animals, so the Humane Society is confident the community will support it in making the PASS program a success. The shelter is not a catch-all for stray and unwanted animals; it is a last resort for animals that need to be there. Healthy stray animals need to stay in the community where their owners are more likely to find them, finders and owners can avoid shelter fees, and the animals will be returned home quicker than if they went to the shelter.
If you would like to help with the PASS program by doing community outreach, securing fosters; being a foster to help with stray animals; assisting with microchipping clinics; or developing marketing materials, the Humane Society would love your help, so please contact them at 254-754-1454.
The Humane Society is at 2032 Circle Road and is open Mon 1-6pm, Tues-Fri 11am-6pm, and Sat 10am-5pm. The last meet and greet is 45 minutes before closing. Staff must accompany guests through the kennels, and COVID precautions are observed. Bring your own dogs and everyone who lives in your household to the meet and greet so your family can be matched with the perfect pet!
The Humane Society of Central Texas is an advocate for the animals at the City of Waco Animal Shelter. The Humane Society provides adoption, rescue, and foster opportunities, as well as community education regarding responsible pet ownership. The partnership between HSCTX and the City of Waco Animal Services, along with the support of the community, has resulted in a current average live-exit rate above 90%, giving the Waco Animal Shelter No-Kill status! Our goal is to save each and every healthy and treatable animal that comes into the shelter because we believe Every Waco Animal Deserves A Chance!
By Paula Rivadeneira is executive director of the Humane Society of Central Texas. She may be reached at 254-754-1454 or [email protected].
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email Ferrell Foster at [email protected].
By Katherine Turner-Pearson
With racism on the rise across America, I often hear people in our community say, “But that doesn’t happen here.” So, it dawns on me that we do not realize the amount of racism and actions of hate that occur within our own city.
I have spent years on the board of the Community Race Relations Coalition (CRRC) combating racism and trying to bring understanding between ethnic and cultural groups in our community, and this is one of the biggest obstacles we face — people not believing that racism occurs so close to home.
So often we are not even aware of our own cultural biases, much less aware of the biases and racism of others, or the daily experiences of those around us. But helping people recognize that yes, hate and racism does exist within our neighborhood, and yes, these things do happen in our town, is the first step in addressing racism and hate, and stopping it from spreading.
That is why I encourage everyone in our community to attend an upcoming webinar event presented by the CRRC in connection to recent Asian hate crimes and harassment in the Waco area, and consider joining the CRRC.
The McLennan County Community Race Relations Coalition is presenting a Zoom webinar, “A History of Discrimination and Hate in Asian Americans,” in connection to Asian American Pacific Heritage Month, Thursday, May 27, at 6:30 p.m.
The format will be a panel discussion concerning Asian racism in the Waco area. The panelists include: Jaja Chen, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and co-owner of Waco Cha; Jonathan Tran, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophical theology and George W. Baines Chair of Religion at Baylor University; Prof. Sharyl Loeung, coordinator Baylor University Office of Multicultural Affairs; and Kathy Cheng, lawyer at Cheng & Associates and former candidate for the Texas Supreme Court.
The audience will be able to ask questions. To sign up for this live event go to tinyurl.com/5uxjmunr and to ask questions call (254) 717-7903.
Katherine Turner-Pearson is a Registered Professional Archaeologist and owner of Central Texas Archaeological Resources. She is a native Wacoan and serves on the Board of Directors of the Community Race Relations Coalition and the Waco Vietnam Memorial. Previously, she served as president of the Central Texas Archaeological Society, vice-president of the Waco Cultural Arts Festival, board member of both the Waco American Heart Association and the Texas Archaeological Society, and member of the McLennan County History Coalition.
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email Ferrell Foster at [email protected].
By Madison Black
This month, the first group of students completing their Bachelor of Science in Multidisciplinary Studies at Texas Tech University at Waco received their degrees. On May 4, these eight students were recognized at a ceremony at the Conference Center at McLennan Community College.
Graduates received an abundance of guidance from Texas Tech University Site Coordinator Dr. Brandi Ray, who worked with La Vega and Lorena ISDs to pair students with mentor teachers.
“It is a wonderful opportunity to work with these school districts to prepare students to become exceptional teachers,” Ray said. “The benefits from this will have a lasting impact on the community.”
For the past two years, these students have taught alongside their mentor teachers in the classroom, learning what it takes to successfully teach middle school math. These mentors, as well as additional school personnel and family members, joined graduates as they received their graduation cords at the ceremony.
Dr. Lewis Snell, director of Texas Tech University at Waco, said of the milestone, “I am always looking for success stories to share with our administrative team and the graduates in Cohort 1 are all success stories. I can’t wait to see where they end up teaching next year.”
Several graduates of the program have already signed teaching contracts with local school districts for the upcoming school year.
For more information, please contact Dr. Snell at 254-299-8324 or visit www.depts.ttu.edu/waco.
Madison Schick is social media and communications specialist at McLennan Community College. A literature enthusiast and graduate of the University of Texas at San Antonio, Madison studied environmental science, English, and history, and still loves all things related to reading and writing.
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email Ferrell Foster at [email protected].
By Chase Jensen
World Hunger Relief, Inc., is thrilled to welcome Wacoans back out to the farm this summer!
As with so many organizations, our plans last summer were either canceled or seriously reworked to fit into a virtual format. We had a blast with local youth during our online summer program but missed seeing the contagious wonder and curiosity that kids have when they get to explore our farm in person.
While we were able to convert educational opportunities into an online format, all of our community events had to be canceled, including our annual Farm Day and Night on the Farm dinners. But while our city was closed we remained hard at work learning, revising curriculum, and feeding Wacoans through our C.S.A. and our Produce Prescription Program.
We are definitely ready to welcome Waco back to the farm though! In April we were able to host our first Night on the Farm dinner of the year, which featured delicious food, live music, and a beautiful outdoor covered setting (even with a little rain!). Our next Night on the Farm dinner is scheduled for June 3, and we expect it to be just as memorable a time.
These dinners allow us a chance to show off the farm, give people a chance to taste the food we raise on the farm, and share a bit about our current and upcoming activities. There are still a few spots available, so if you’d like a seat at the table register soon at www.worldhungerrelief.org!
The farm is also hosting two weeks of farm-filled fun for children entering K-6th grade during the weeks of June 7-11 and June 14-18. This day camp will occur Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., and includes a healthy snack and lunch. Our theme this year is Farm-to-Table, and we will be learning about different trees, plants and animals on our farm as well as engaging in fun games and engaging crafts. This is a great opportunity for kids to get outside and engage with living things after a long year inside and in front of screens! You can learn more and register by visiting www.worldhungerrelief.org/farm-camp.
Chase Jensen is director of education for World Hunger Relief in Waco.
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email Ferrell Foster at [email protected].
By City of Waco Public Information
Residents of Waco will be able to enroll in the Transportation Security Administration’s popular TSA PreCheck program at Waco Regional Airport May 24-28.
The airport is a convenient location to sign up for the program that enables enrolled people to travel with more ease through the expedited security screening process. The “pop-up” office will be inside the lobby of the terminal in the baggage claim area.
The application process allows U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to enroll directly in TSA PreCheck — an expedited screening program that allows travelers to leave on their shoes, light outerwear, and belt, keep their laptop in its case and their 3-1-1 compliant liquids/gels bag in a carry-on, in select TSA airport checkpoint screening lanes. More than 200 airports participate in TSA PreCheck program nationwide.
Visit TSA PreCheck | Transportation Security Administration website to register for the upcoming enrollment event. Applicants must bring proof of identity and U.S. citizenship. This can either be through a current U.S. passport, or driver’s license and a copy of their birth certificate. The enrollment process must be completed in person at ACT for the proper paperwork and fingerprints to be collected.
The application fee is $85 and can be paid during the enrollment appointment with either a credit card, money order, company check or certified/cashier’s check. Cash or personal checks are not accepted.
Travelers can go to the Waco Regional Airport (7909 Karl May Dr., Waco, TX 76708) lobby of the terminal area at 9 a.m.-noon or 1-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, May 24-28.
After completing enrollment, successful applicants will receive a Known Traveler Number (KTN) via U.S. mail within two weeks and is valid for five years. The enrollee should enter the provided KTN in the “Known Traveler Number” field when booking airline reservations. The KTN also can be added when booking reservations online via a participating airline website, via phone call to the airline reservation center, or with the travel management company. Additionally, the KTN can be entered in participating airline frequent flyer profiles as well.
For more information, contact Joel Martinez at 254-750-8657 or [email protected].
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email Ferrell Foster at [email protected].
By Paula Rivadeneira
Five Waco businesses are sponsoring every dog adoption at the Waco Animal Shelter until 1 p.m. Sunday, which means adoptions will be free until that deadline. Greg May Honda, Greg May Hyundai, Pretty In Pink Flamingo Boutique, Z’s at the Curry, and Z’s Brew at the Curry are sponsoring the effort.
The Humane Society of Central Texas is trying to find homes for 60 dogs by 1 p.m. Sunday to free up space at the Waco Animal Shelter where 115 new animals have come in since May 1.
The shelter is full of big dogs, small dogs, old dogs, puppies … you name it! Most of the dogs participate in daily play groups so staff know they are dog friendly, and even those that may be particular about other animals are still family friendly. The large kennels are nearly full so the staff is trying especially to place dogs over 25 pounds in new homes.
The adoption process is simple. Bring in everyone from your household, including your kids and dogs, for a meet and greet, and a Pet Matchmaker will walk you through the kennels and match you and your family with a shelter dog who is just right for you.
If you are not ready to adopt, consider fostering. When you foster an animal, you provide the home and the love while HSCTX continues to provide veterinary care. While the dog is in your home, you learn everything you can about the pet, and help staff to find the dog a forever home. Even if you can only foster for a week or two, that’s enough time to help an animal decompress from shelter life, which gives them a better chance at finding a forever home when they come back to the shelter. And if you are worried about falling in love and adopting your foster pet, don’t worry, staff call that a Foster Win.
HSCTX is open Mon 1-6pm, Tues-Fri 11am-6pm, Sat 10am-5pm. This Sunday only, HSCTX will be open 10am-1pm. Meet and greets end 45 minutes before close, but staff are committed to getting homes for all the animals so if they are busy, they will stay open!!!
The Humane Society of Central Texas is at 2032 Circle Road, Waco. Staff must accompany guests through the kennels, and COVID precautions are observed. Bring your own dogs and everyone who lives in your household to the meet and greet so your family can be matched with the perfect pet.
The Humane Society of Central Texas is an advocate for the animals at the City of Waco Animal Shelter. The Humane Society provides adoption, rescue, and foster opportunities, as well as community education regarding responsible pet ownership. The partnership between HSCTX and the City of Waco Animal Services, along with the support of the community, has resulted in a current average live-exit rate above 90%, giving the Waco Animal Shelter No-Kill status! Our goal is to save each and every healthy and treatable animal that comes into the shelter because we believe Every Waco Animal Deserves A Chance!
By Paula Rivadeneira is executive director of the Humane Society of Central Texas. She may be reached at 254-754-1454 or [email protected].
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email Ferrell Foster at [email protected].
By Lisa Elliott
The McLennan Community College Board of Trustees decided during its February 2021 meeting to take advantage of the low interest rate environment in both the taxable and tax-exempt bond markets and to refund several of the MCC’s outstanding bonds. The refunding transactions will save MCC and taxpayers a total of $2.6 million over the remaining life of the bonds.
The limited tax refunding bond transaction provided the majority of the savings. The College refunded $24.5 million in outstanding limited tax bonds. This refunding generated gross savings of $2.26 million, which has a net present value of $2 million. This savings directly impacts MCC’s property tax rate, which is comprised of two portions: a maintenance and operations rate, which helps operate MCC, and an interest and sinking fund rate, which provides revenue to service tax-backed debt.
The revenue-refunding bond transaction was a smaller refunding with $2.38 million. This refunding generated gross savings of $352,395, which has a net present value of $333,555. Revenue bond debt service is paid by MCC from a combination of resources — tuition and fees, auxiliary revenues, and interest income. Savings on revenue bond debt service allows resources to be directed to other programmatic priorities of the College.
MCC prides itself on being financially responsible, and with the guidance of our financial advisors at RBC Capital Markets, this decision shows a continued commitment by the Board of Trustees for the responsible use of financial resources.
For more information, please contact Dr. Stephen Benson, Vice President of Finance & Administration at MCC, at [email protected] or 254-299-8679.
Lisa Elliott is director of marketing & communications for McLennan Community College.
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email Ferrell Foster at [email protected].
By Charles Ray Harris
In support of the Caritas Veterans Case Management Program, I serve as the case manager. The program, funded by the Texas Veterans Commission Fund for Veterans Assistance, provides supportive services to low-income veterans and surviving spouses, living in McLennan, Bosque, Falls, Freestone, Limestone, and Hill counties.
Being a veteran myself, I appreciate and I am honored to work for an organization that provides services to assist this special population. I served over 20 years as a non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Army. The main role of an NCO is the welfare of the soldier and his or her family.
At Caritas, I am doing the same thing I did in the Army, but now the soldier is a veteran. This is a very important program, and I am thrilled to be a part of helping and empowering veterans and their families.
The Veterans Case Management Program takes a two-step approach, focusing on basic needs leading to long-term stability. In order for a person to thrive, basic needs must be met before they are able to build stability.
Available resources include assistance with rent and mortgage, utilities, food, and other emergency services. In addition, the program helps clients gain long-term employment at a living wage. Employment services include pre-vocation training and testing, financial assistance for certification, licensing and educational materials, clothing for employment, and assistance for childcare and transportation costs.
As the case manager, I am here to ensure veterans secure the benefits rightfully earned in exchange for their service in our nation’s armed forces. To schedule an appointment, I can be reached at 254-753-4593 ext. 233, or by cell at 254-644-9391, or [email protected].
For more information on Caritas of Waco, please visit caritas-waco.org.
First Sgt. Charles Ray Harris, Jr., USA, retired, was born and raised in Waco and graduated from Jefferson Moore High School. He served over 20 years in the U.S. Army before retiring. After the military, he graduated from Tarleton State University with a bachelor’s degree in business. He also graduated from McLennan Community College with an associate’s degrees in social work, youth counseling, and mental health counseling. He has been married for 35 years and has one daughter.
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email Ferrell Foster at [email protected].
By Hermann Pereira
Everyone is feeling the fatigue of all that we have been through this past year. In our fatigue, it is easy to overlook things, but I want to bring something to our attention as a community that is important for us not to get fatigued about.
Every student graduating from high school deserves an opportunity to move on to their post-secondary plans of choice. In our community we have great higher education choices and growing industries that our students should have access to, but the data says otherwise.
I would like to bring your attention to just the enrollment data, which shows the rate at which high school students enroll in higher education. The numbers from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center are staggering. It compares the data from the class of 2019 and the class of 2020, remember the class of 2020 is the one that graduated in the midst of the pandemic.
| Overall enrollment in higher education | High Poverty Schools | Low Poverty Schools | |
| Class of 2019 | -1.5% | -1.6% | -1.4% |
| Class of 2020 | -6.8% | -11.4% | -2.9% |
In Greater Waco, we have six larger school districts which total 35,000+ students. Three of the six districts are in that higher poverty range, and they have more than 20,000 students. This growing gap in higher education enrollment is a major opportunity gap, and it is only getting bigger.
There are existing efforts that are looking to address this growing opportunity gap. I want to highlight two upcoming existing efforts:
- The McLennan County College Access Network is hosting a Drive Thru Event 10 a.m.-2 p.m. April 24. The event will be for all high school seniors and their parents to get help with financial aid, college admissions, and enrollment. The event will be held at Communities in Schools, 1001 Washington Ave..
- Prosper Waco and Waco Foundation will begin a comprehensive study on the college and career continuum in McLennan County. We hope to capture who is providing what services to which students and to what affect in our county. At the conclusion of the study we will share results openly with the community.
Prosper Waco is committed to ensuring all students in McLennan County have equitable access to college and career resources. If you have any questions or want to discuss education in our community please reach out to me at [email protected].
Hermann Pereira is chief program officer of Prosper Waco.