Bank of America Charitable Foundation
$250,000.00
El Paso Electric Co.
$20,000.00
Texas Workforce Commission, Wagner Peyser
$350,000.00
University Presbyterian Church
$3,000.00
Project ARRIBA came to fruition in 1998 to increase the educational attainment levels for an underemployed population living along the Borderplex region. Twenty-two years later, our results have positively affected the quality of life and economic…
Jennifer Kuiper’s college career began at El Paso Community College in the 90s. She was playing softball at the time and had an athlete’s path ahead of her. Quickly her life changed when she became pregnant and had to leave softball and school behind. She joined the Army, began working but 12 years and a total of 4 children later, it appeared that college just wasn’t going to happen.
Jennife...
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Dara Castro, a single 23-year-old, came to Project ARRIBA in 2012. Dara lived with her parents and two younger siblings. Both her parents worked, however they struggled to make ends meet. When she applied to Project ARRIBA, Dara had just been accepted into the Physical Therapy Assistant program at El Paso Community College. Dara had a passion to work with patients in helping them recover from...
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Christina Valdiva., is 32 years old and a single mother of four and veteran of the US Army. She came to Project ARRIBA in the summer of 2012, unemployed and struggling to provide for her family. Christina had been accepted into the Registered Nurse program at El Paso Community College, but did not have the means to pay for tuition or school materials. However, with Project ARRIBA’s assistanc...
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Anniela Solano, a 25-year-old single mother, became a Project ARRIBA participant in 2012. At the time, she was a full-time student, unemployed, and had no prior work experience. Anniela wanted to work helping people in a field that offered her job security but knew in order to achieve this, she would need to complete her education. With Project ARRIBA’s assistance, Anniela completed her Regis...
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Javier Perez. is 32 years old, married, and has two beautiful daughters. He came to Project ARRIBA in 2012, and at the time was working two jobs as a medical assistant. Javier wanted to continue his education, but as the sole provider for his family, he did not have the necessary resources to make this a reality. With Project ARRIBA’s financial, educational and social support, Javier complet...
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Maria de Los Angeles Barragan was born and raised in Juarez Chihuahua, Mexico. She moved to El Paso in 2006 upon acquiring residence, and started her new life. She knew she needed to learn the English language and immediately started looking for assistance. She was able to acquire her GED through the San Jacinto Learning Center. Soon after she enrolled at EPCC for ESL classes, and it was t...
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Luis Nieves was born and raised in Puerto Rico and in 2005, moved to El Paso, TX. Luis proudly served in the U.S. Army for 3 years and during that time was deployed to Kuwait and Iraq. His primary specialty in the Army was in healthcare. After his separation with the armed forces, Luis knew he wanted to continue into a healthcare field. He studied exercise science but was unable to find a d...
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Mayte Githinji was born in Chihuahua, Mexico and moved to El Paso, Texas in 2011 when she was 18 years old.
Mayte received all her formal education in Mexico and, as a result, had to learn English prior to enrolling in college. After a semester of English as a Second Language classes, she was able to start her core classes at El Paso Community College (EPCC). There she met her husband who ...
Jessica, the youngest of three children, had a simple upbringing. Her father worked in construction and her mother was a homemaker. She graduated from high school, married and had two children, one of whom was diagnosed with special needs. With no post-secondary education, Jessica worked as bus driver to earn additional income for her family. And after ten years, the marriage ended and Jessica...
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Veronica knew the only way she could support her family with three small children was to gain a post-secondary education. After completing her prerequisites for the nursing program at the El Paso Community College, she realized that she did not have the resources required to continue on in her studies. On the verge of putting her education on hold, Project ARRIBA partnered with Veronica in 2003...
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