Sunny Glen Children’s Home in Raymondville is set to close its doors this fall, and with it, more than 400 Texans will lose their jobs. Children at Sunny Glen will lose access to the care and shelter they rely on. 

The closure comes after federal grant funding runs out on October 31. Without renewal or emergency support, the Sunny Glen facility, which opened in 2019, will shut down. CEO Chase Palmer has said the organization will try to place a few employees elsewhere and work with the Texas Workforce Commission, but the reality is most workers will be left behind.

This isn’t just about numbers. Behind those 400 jobs are families across the Rio Grande Valley who depend on those paychecks. Behind those grant dollars are real children who will be uprooted and displaced once again, forced into a system already stretched thin. This closure is both an economic and a humanitarian crisis, and it does not have to happen.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), led by Secretary Xavier Becerra, has the power to extend funding or provide emergency transition support. Our Texas representatives in Congress also have a duty to stand up for the children and families in their districts. Doing nothing would abandon both the most vulnerable children in our care and the workers who serve them.

We demand immediate action: HHS must extend or replace funding so no child is displaced and no worker abandoned, and our elected leaders must publicly commit to protecting both kids and jobs in the Rio Grande Valley.

Texas is stronger when we defend families, workers, and children together. Closing Sunny Glen would betray those values.

Add your name to demand that federal leaders keep Sunny Glen open and protect the kids and workers who depend on it.