• Training of animators for the English Language Development Program
• The creation of new programs such as ‘Padres Activos’
• Developing and implementing the ARISE Staff formation program in collaboration with the Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC) in San Antonio.
• Creating alliances with strong organizations which would stand with ARISE as it grew up and matured as an organization. Among those are MACC, Intercultural Development and Research Associates (IDRA) of  San Antonio, the Sisters of Mercy of the St. Louis Regional Community, The Daughters of Charity, West-Central Region, The Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word of Houston.
• Attending to leadership succession by forming a cadre of indigenous leaders who would be ready to be Presidents of the ARISE Centers when the time for that arrived.
• Training and oversight of Bookkeepers.
• Legal paperwork and documents.
• Board Formation
• Fiscal Sustainability
  

Current Programs

Today, in 2007, almost all of these support functions have been turned over to the staffs of the individual center. The Support center now has its own set of programs.

• Fiscal Sustainability/Grant Writing/Website Construction and Maintenance
• Care of Creation
• Small repairs to substandard homes
• Strengthening the Family Program
• English as a Second Language for Adults
• Financial Management of grant and endowment money, as well as appropriate accountability reviews.
• Service Learning
• Participation in Voces del Pueblo Advocacy group.
• Micro Loans
• Space for families to grow vegetables, to raise chickens and goats and benefit from the products.       

The Support Center operates with 3 full time staff and 3 part time staff persons. It is finally located in the center of the South Tower colonia community on five acres of land donated by the Sisters of Mercy. They actually donated fifteen acres. Hidalgo County, Precinct 2 together with the local people is developing a community park on the other ten acres.

Virginia and Christy discuss some data to be entered to the computer.

Carlos, Abel and Eva meet to discuss the mulch heap and the goats.

Center's Special Feature: Care of Creation

A special feature of this Center is its Care of Creation program. This program shows and teaches a number of simple conservation practices such as the use of solar water heaters, various soil enrichment techniques such as composting, mulching, the use of chicken tractors, organic gardening, loofa vines growing up the outer walls of the house and acting as absorbents of some of the intense summer heat, simple water conservation techniques, examples of buildings constructed with alternative building materials, caring for a fruit grove, solar oven, and an adobe earth oven. The product of this program that most benefits the economically poor families who cannot afford electric bills and do not have hot water are the solar water heaters. These water heaters are constructed by the ARISE carpenter in collaboration with the benefiting family and belong to ARISE. In that way they can be rotated onto another family if the initial family does not use them anymore.