Author: Mark Young

Residents often deal with bad water, frequent flooding Rosemary Jimenez has lived in the Cindy Park Colonia for more than three decades, but according to her, “this isn’t a life I would recommend to anyone.” Sitting in her small trailer home on nearly two acres of land, Jimenez, 56, lists the illnesses that plague her: ”I am handicapped. Since 2009 I’ve had multiple strokes. I have seizures and heart problems. I was healthy before I came here.” She isn’t alone. Jimenez says that “in the last three years, six people have died of cancer on my street alone.” Since moving…

Families struggle for progress with the water, environment Located outside city limits, unincorporated settlements are attracting low-income individuals seeking a place to build a home and call their own. Lacking basic infrastructure and especially dealing with toxic water issues, residents of these settlements, known as colonias, learn to adapt to what they call “the life of a colonia.” In Nueces County alone, there are nearly 200 unincorporated areas dealing with the unsafe and unsanitary environment that comes with living on a colonia. After living in the colonia of Petronila for seven years with her father, Del Mar student and social…