Brownsville, Texas—Soccer creates trust for residents of the Buena Vida neighborhood.
Two months ago, the Buena Vida Leadership Council, made up of 14 neighborhood volunteers, opened a soccer field for the community.
“A lot of good things come from the field — neighbors getting to know each other, trusting one another, and children staying healthy and off the streets,” Carmen Cavazos, the council’s coordinator, said in Spanish.
Since the field opened on 14th and Tyler streets, 48 registered children have played every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6-8 p.m. The children are split into two teams according to age.
“My kids love it there, and a lot of people here love soccer. There’s just no other place like it,” said Concepcion Ornela, parent of two boys that have played since the field opened.
“Before, the kids could not play soccer because of the damage they might cause, but now there is somewhere for them to go,” the council’s coordinator explained.
The council was started two years ago by the Center for Civic Engagement at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.
“The purpose (of the council) was for residents to take ownership of the barrio,” said Magda San Roman, community organizer at the center.
“We start the program and then pass it on, in hope that it can become self-sufficient,” she added.
Although the center created the council, San Roman admitted that UTB-TSC had only monetary involvement, as well as some advisorship, with the council.
“They get funding from the Compassion Capital Fund we received, but most of what they’re doing is by themselves,” she said.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services gave the Compassionate Capital Fund to the center for its involvement in Buena Vida.
Additional funding came from the city, which paved the area near the field, the city’s Housing Authority, which provided fencing and La Iglesia del Pueblo Pentecostal on 13th and Tyler, which lent out the three lots the field sits on.
The Brownsville Herald
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