Hero’s name: San Juana Aguirre
Home city: Mission, Texas
Organization affiliation: La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE)
How does the person’s work advance social justice? What is the person’s vision for an equitable world?
“San Juanita is a hero in my eyes and in the eyes of other community members. San Juanita went through a devastating moment in her life where her 7-year-old son Angel was diagnosed with cancer.
Unfortunately, all the treatment he was given did not work, and San Juanita lost her son.
As an undocumented mother, San Juanita, as well as her family, struggled to get her son the treatment he needed due to not having documents and not being able to travel freely to other parts of the state to get the treatment he needed.
San Juanita never gave up hope and did everything she could to heal her son. But unfortunately, her son lost the battle.
In honor of her son and the struggles she went through, San Juanita became a Community Health Educator (CHE) with La Union del Pueblo Entero to help her community in receiving the health care they need.
By working in the ‘Health on Wheels’ program at LUPE, San Juanita has learned about the resources that our community has to offer and is always helping individuals find the health resources they need.
Community members look up to San Juanita as an advocate when they have health-related issues because they know she works with ‘Health on Wheels’ and that she does her best to find help for people in need.
San Juanita also participated as a spokesperson for LUPE concerning Prop 1., letting people know the importance of having a public health care district in the Rio Grande Valley.
She hopes that no one has to go through the struggles she did when her son had cancer.
I can also say that San Juanita has developed great leadership skills and always makes herself available whenever she is needed to volunteer and to participate in protests and other events for the better of our community.”
Honored by: Kayla Montano of LUPE