This is a two-part article. Look to last week’s issue, November 5, to read the first part.
Helping a young boy became one of the biggest challenges and enjoyments in Alicia Gallegos’ life, someone who she said impacted her immensely. It also led to her sitting on the first board of the Foundation of Hope Inc., a non-profit organization in Corpus Christi.
The Foundation of Hope Inc. was set specifically to study and assist the children participating in the Walk the Talk program, a program of self-improvement for children and their families. Walk the Talk was a 10-year plan which ran until their last cohort graduated from high school.
It began when she received a call from the Head Start program.
“They needed some in kind work for four children who needed to be tested to see if they needed speech therapy,” Gallegos said. “The man advised me to take the three girls first because the boy was very active, but I decided to take him first. He ended up being the only one who needed speech therapy out of the four. So I didn’t mind doing it for free.”
She would visit him twice a week, sometimes more. When he moved to another Head Start program, she followed him. They were connected.
The boy was from a housing project and lived a hard life of poverty. His family didn’t own a car, they used food stamps and saved every cent. Gallegos learned a new side of life; one where it wasn’t easy to run to the store for groceries, it was an adventure, including a bus ride to and fro, which meant the entire trip to the store and home took two hours.
“I told his mother that I wanted for us to get ice cream and whipped topping and syrup to make banana splits when we got to their house,” she recalled. “And she laughed at me and said, ‘We can’t do that! It would melt before we got home,’ she told me, and it was something that never crossed my mind.”
During that time, Gallegos was a part of her church: she went every Sunday, was a Eucharistic minister, and a lector as well. She mentioned how the church would always be talking about reaching out to one’s fellow man.
“I knew the Corpus Christi bishop very well, and I asked him if I could reach out to the young boy…how would I do that? He thought for a moment and said, “I don’t know, but what if I give you a grant so you can figure out how to help him?’” After some nudging, Gallegos accepted. After two years, they had a plan on how to help kids in Corpus Christi. At first they believed they needed money, but it wasn’t the case. They connected services through the county already available to families and their children, with the understanding that sometimes it can be difficult.
Then the Foundation of Hope Inc. was born. The CC Bishop helped Gallegos hire the attorney and gave her the start-up money to begin the foundation.
Once people realized what the Foundation of Hope Inc. was doing, their phone was ringing off the hook. Then a priest in Taft called and spoke about the people who needed housing, and help.
“One of my best volunteers I had, he helped them out and was able to find housing,” she said. “The foundation received a loan from the Texas Department of Community and Housing Affairs to build affordable housing.”
Gallegos ended up receiving a grant from totaling 1.5 million dollars. Rincon Point apartments were born in Taft due to that grant, they can still be found there.
At that point, Gallegos had reached her goal. 14 kids, and the special young boy, graduated from high school without anyone landing in jail or having an early pregnancy. All now live productive lives with their families.
“I felt like my job was done,” she said. “The way they live their positive lives…I believe it was because of our interventions.”
Gallegos continued to reach new heights, she connected with the editor of the CC Caller Times newspaper to share with him the importance of writing about history, and recommended a columnist. After the two had lunch, the editor asked her to join the advisory board for the newspaper. She did that for nearly four years.
Gallegos applied for the Leadership Corpus Christi, which after she was accepted, led her to being on the library board. Doing that led to the openings of two libraries: one in the Northwest of CC, and the CC public library, which was built on the bluff.
“While I served as chairman, the library director submitted my name to the state library board for an appointment: it was called the Texas State Library Services and Construction Act board, and I served there for six years,” she explained. “It was in charge of distributing federal funds for the state of Texas and my work at the federal level really helped that.”
After serving others for the larger part of her life, she was awarded the Jefferson Award, a national award given to people who are recognized for their public service.
“That was one of my biggest honors to be given that medallion, it was presented to me in Corpus Christi,” Gallegos said.
Gallegos retired from her speech language pathology practice in 2021.
A funny thing happened when she was overheard by Humberto Lopez while she was telling a story at a private function. Lopez was the owner of Majic 104.9 at the time, who felt history could be taught in different ways. He asked her if she would like to tell stories on his radio and television station. Gallegos tried doing television for about a month and then realized it wasn’t for her, she would rather be on the radio.
So Humberto and Gallegos’ father sponsored the first shows of Hilos de Historias on Majic 104.9 in the late 1990s. Gallegos has been doing that show, around 50 shows a year, for 25 years. That’s over 1,200 shows, all with a different Texas story Gallegos has found to tell.
Humberto’s son, Carlos, has continued to sponsor Hilos de Historias in memory of his father, who has since passed.
Gallegos was asked what she thinks about Vanderbilt looking back.
“When I think of home I think of Vanderbilt, but I also know how home is never the way we remember it. Growing up there was idyllic, we were innocent, it was a safe place to live, and everyone knew your name,” she said. “At the age of three my mother was managing the Corner Cafe, so I was at the restaurant and sat behind the counter. Two years after that she managed the beanery. Those two experiences of always being there gave me an insight into the social and business life of Vanderbilt.
“I also grew up during an era that started to change in 1968 when I left Vanderbilt. Mexican and black children lived by unwritten rules: we knew what we could do or not allowed to do. But when I left I learned a whole new world, the rules were erased and I realized I could do so many things,” Gallegos said. “When I left to go to college, I encountered a different world.”
Alicia Gallegos lives with her son Alan in the south of Phoenix, and she can still be found most Saturday mornings on Majic 104.9 telling stories. She said the last time she was in Vanderbilt was in 2020, but she plans to visit next year.
