Rosa Es Rojo Inc

We understand that self-care alone can't heal communities; we need community-care. We are challenging the way we address health by focusing not only on the person affected, but also on each person’s capacity to affect healthy changes in—and be supported by— her wider family and community. Through our programming, we build intentional communities of support among participants and lay the foundations for them to independently grow those relationships. We work to create support systems that validate feelings and emotions, provide support to overcome adversity, and celebrate achievements.

In a Positive Health Community where culturally tailored and accessible chronic disease prevention programs are at the center, we expect the following:

- Women to be better educated on wellness and prevention topics, effectively leading systemic changes for themselves, their families, and communities.
- Healthier lifestyles and a reduction in chronic diseases among Hispanics.
- Stronger social capital networks among Hispanics and other minority groups.
- A more productive economy and financial empowerment among Hispanics, thanks to savings in the cost of chronic disease treatments and the effects of lower mortality and morbidity rates.
- A change in how Hispanic women and other people from racial and ethnic minority groups are treated regarding their health and well-being. Social institutions such as hospitals, government agencies, and other nonprofits will recognize the need to provide culturally relevant wellness education and resources for historically marginalized communities in need.
- Empowered Hispanic women and families creating sustainable lifestyle changes.

We use two pillars for driving our social innovation strategy at Rosa Es Rojo: Cultural Humility and Positive Health.

What is Cultural Humility?

Cultural Humility promotes and holds a sense of respect, humility, reverence, and pride in the roots of all the Hispanic women we serve. We approach our work from a position of self-reflection on our own Hispanic culture and desire to learn from those we serve. We recognize the existence of power imbalances within health care and work to dismantle them by empowering our participants with tools for self-advocacy.

What is Positive Health?

In a Positive Health Community, there is support for shifting from a “curative to a preventative model of care,” centered around adopting healthier lifestyles. This transformation helps increase resilience, productivity, and happiness among members.

ROSAesROJO initially focuses on community members who face health barriers and challenges. We challenge them to embrace healthier behaviors and advocate for themselves, thereby caring for their surroundings, neighbors, family members, and eventually extending this positive impact and well-being to other communities.
Furthermore, we are planning to help healthcare professionals undergo training to engage in new discussions promoting 'Positive Health' with their patients.

In 2018, ROSAesROJO was named a fellow of the Social Innovation Accelerator of the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas as well as a member of KERNEL, the United Way of Tarrant County's accelerator program. In 2019, the organization was recognized as Organization of the Year by D-CEO magazine and The Communities Foundation of Texas. RER also won the 2019 D-CEO and Communities Foundation of Texas Nonprofit and Corporate Citizenship award for “Organization of the Year < $99,000."

Also in 2019, Aideé, Founder and CEO, was honored with the SXSW Community Service Award and Dallas Business Journal Minority Business Leader Award with the distinction of Community Advocate honoree. In 2020, Aideé was selected as a Roddenberry Foundation fellow, and the organization was named a Social Venture Partners of Dallas advisee.

In 2021, ROSAesROJO participated in the CDC Foundation Empowered Health Cancer-Free Challenge where our social innovation was chosen as a Top 5 Idea Winner around the world. Most recently, we were selected as a fellow in the Collin County Nonprofit Success Institute for 2022, led by Communities Foundation of Texas, United Way of Dallas, and Toyota, and were chosen as an Echoing Green 2022 Fellow.

Rosa Es Rojo has proven its value by fostering a sense of belonging in the individuals they serve (90%), providing culturally relevant wellness materials (98%), ensuring accessibility (97%), and enhancing the well-being of their participants through 'community as medicine’ (92%).