Community Assessment and Analysis - Rio Grande
Michele Foster, Chelsea Simpson, Cinimol Teju, Ann Brennan, Jessica Ramaley
Grand Canyon University

Community Assessment and Analysis - Rio Grande
The lower Rio Grande Valley is located along the United States and Mexican border. The lower Rio Grande Valley consists of four counties along the southernmost tip of Texas (Migrant Health Promotion, 2012). These counties include metropolitan areas such as Rio Grande City, McAllen, Harlingen, and Brownsville (Migrant Health Promotion, 2012). The Rio Grande Valley is nestled right along the Rio Grande River which is why the area is so abundant in agriculture.
In phenomenological communities, place is emphasized more by the sense of belonging among the members (Maurer & Smith, 2009). The lower Rio Grande Valley has over one million people in which 90 percent of the population is Hispanic (Migrant Health Promotion, 2012). The Valley is known to be home to one of the largest concentrations of farm workers in the United States (Migrant Health Promotion, 2012). A considerable amount of farm workers travel from Mexico to work in agriculture in the United States and because of this, the members of this community can relate.
Four counties in the southern tip of Texas along the Mexican border make up the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Over 1 million people make up this population with 85 to 98% being Hispanic. It is made up of over 2,000 colonias and most of residents. Colonia is a Spanish term for community along the United States-Mexican border. These are in unincorporated and unregulated neighborhoods where lower-income families build homes. They usually have a lack of public service since some colonias are located outside of city limits and lack of city services such as water, roads, electricity, or other basics. Valley colonia residents are mostly Mexican and