HARLINGEN — Cristina Ruiz was certain that if a program can work elsewhere, it will succeed here, too.
“When I first got here at Loaves and Fishes, and I started doing the SOAR (Social Security Outreach, Access and Recovery) work, I thought if it’s working in other states, then I know it has to work in the Valley,” she said.
Ruiz, who joined Americorps and works for the VISTA program, came to Loaves and Fishes in February. She recruits volunteers to become social outreach workers to help people who are veterans, homeless or who have substance abuse or mental issues, fill out applications for Social Security.
It hasn’t always been a smooth ride recruiting people and convincing them of the value of the program.
“I’d tell them about it, and they go, ‘What are we going to get out of it.’ I’d say, ‘No, you don’t have to get anything out of it, you’re going to be helping the community, you’re going to be helping the people who need help,’” she said.
“That’s what you’re going to get out of it.”
Ruiz, 35, was born in Donna and now lives in Alamo.
“I’ve been in that situation where I didn’t have anyone to help me out, and I didn’t even know about any organization,” she said. “I’m a single mother of five kids, so being able to help someone and making them smile again is worth it.”
She said her background gives her insight into what is possible in life despite the inevitable hardships encountered along the way.
“One time this lady said, ‘Oh, I have seven kids and I don’t have time for this, and I have to be taking care of them.’” Ruiz recalled. “I was like, ‘Ma’am, I have five and I’m a single parent, and you have your husband.’
“‘I’m still here and I don’t get paid. So if I can do it, you could do it, too.’”
It’s apparent that, for Ruiz, one of her complaints is dealing with those who don’t have her outlook on turning the problematic things in life around.
“It’s difficult because here in the Valley I only hear negative things,” she said. “Anything you want to do is negative. Anything you want to accomplish is negative.
“People are like, they’re just lazy and they should just get up and look for a job,” she said of the people she helps at Loaves and Fishes. “That’s what I hear and I say, ‘Ma’am, you don’t know if they went through something, and they lost everything. Or they lost hope. You really don’t know.’
“You have to first hear what they have to say before you can criticize anyone else.”
