By Karen Villarreal

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – JULY 8, 2025 – This summer, UTRGV School of Nursing students and faculty dedicated their time to inspiring children at Proyecto Desarrollo Humano, a Peñitas community center, to make positive health and academic choices.

Through two key programs – Creating Healthy Eating Choices for Kids (CHECK) and Desire, Readiness, Endowment, Action and Mastery for Success (DREAMS) – the School of Nursing connected with elementary and middle-school students to provide nutrition education and encourage them to dream big.

Dr. Lilia Fuentes, dean of the UTRGV School of Nursing and Lilian O. Slemp Endowed Chair in Nursing, leads the CHECK program and collaborates with community youth initiatives like those hosted over the Summer by Proyecto Desarrollo Humano. The community center in Penitas, Texas has expanded to include medical and dental clinics, education programs, exercise classes, a community garden and a sewing room. (UTRGV photo by Paul Chouy)

CHECK, initiated in 2018 with the UTRGV Border Health Office, teaches elementary students learn more about healthy eating, while DREAMS empowers middle school students through motivational speakers from the community.

Dr. Lilia Fuentes, dean of the UTRGV School of Nursing and Lilian O. Slemp Endowed Chair in Nursing, leads the CHECK program and collaborates with community youth initiatives like Proyecto Desarrollo Humano. On June 17, as part of a weeklong of activities, faculty and students distributed vegetable baskets, seeds, nutrition books and UTRGV spirit shirts to CHECK participants.

“It is a joyful day for our children,” said Sister Fatima Santiago, executive director of Proyecto Desarrollo Humano, who expressed gratitude for the support of the UTRGV School of Nursing. “We are very happy with the partnership,” Santiago said. “Every year, they encourage young people to go to college and become who they want to become.”

Sister Fatima Santiago, executive director of Proyecto Desarrollo Humano, stands with UTRGV nursing students, Dr. Lilia Fuentes, who leads the CHECK program, and Susamma Thomas, clinical associate professor, who has led the McAllen chapter of the DREAMS project since 2017. (UTRGV photo by Paul Chouy)

Since its establishment in 2004, Proyecto Desarrollo Humano has expanded to include medical and dental clinics, education programs, exercise classes, a community garden and a sewing room.

The CHECK program typically runs for four weeks during the school year, during which nursing students teach nutrition modules to fourth graders in San Carlos, Rio Grande City, Monte Alto, Elsa and La Villa.

“A lot of behavioral changes happen at around that age,” Santiago said. “Students take everything they learn about healthy eating habits back home.”

Susamma Thomas, clinical associate professor at UTRGV School of Nursing, has led the McAllen chapter of the DREAMS project since 2017. This program pairs fifth to eighth graders with mentors from previous cohorts, now in high school or college. Mentors help younger students identify their dreams and the steps needed to achieve them.

The UTRGV School of Nursing CHECK Program typically has students grow vegetables at their schools, but for the Summer program, they distributed baskets of healthy food and seeds for planting in the Fall. (UTRGV photo by Paul Chouy)

To enhance the DREAMS mission, Thomas has partnered with the CHECK program, integrating nutrition education into the mentorship experience. This collaboration ensures that students not only dream big but also learn the importance of healthy living as they work toward their goals.

“They (mentors) talk to them about how they came from similar backgrounds and how they made their dreams a reality,” Thomas said. “Hopefully, these kids will later come to UTRGV.”

Approximately 40 graduate nursing students, enrolled in a community health nursing course, participate in health promotion and disease prevention activities.

“Health nursing means going out and helping the community,” Fuentes said.