The History of Valle Del Sol Community Health
The OGs of Phoenix Healthcare
Valle Del Sol Community Health's story starts in 1970, in the middle of the Chicano civil rights movement, with a group of Phoenix activists who were done waiting for systems to change.
Their neighbors needed healthcare. Their families needed support. Their community had nowhere else to turn.
So they built Valle Del Sol Community Health. Over 50 years later, we're still the same organization those activists founded: rooted in justice, committed to our community, and ready to stand up when it matters. From courtrooms to health clinics to leadership programs, this is who we've always been.
1970: When Activists Built a Clinic
Phoenix's Latino community didn't need another institution that didn't understand them. They needed someone who got it.
Valle Del Sol Community Health was founded during the Chicano movement, when communities across the Southwest were demanding civil rights, educational equity, and community empowerment. Our founders were part of that movement. They looked at the unmet needs around them and saw families with nowhere else to turn.
Valle Del Sol Community Health started as a direct response to what the system wouldn't provide: culturally centered services that spoke your language, respected your heritage, and treated you with dignity. From the beginning, we were built on social justice principles, serving as more than a clinic—we became a community anchor.
2010: When We Took Arizona to Court
Forty years after our founding, Valle Del Sol Community Health proved we hadn't lost our edge.
Arizona passed SB 1070 in 2010, one of the country's harshest immigration enforcement laws – known to the community as the “show me your papers” law. As written, it required law enforcement officers to check immigration status during routine stops, effectively legalizing racial profiling and targeting immigrant communities. The law drew national condemnation for undermining civil rights and promoting discrimination.
Valle Del Sol Community Health joined a coalition of civil rights organizations as a plaintiff in Valle Del Sol Community Health v. Whiting and Valle Del Sol Community Health v. State of Arizona. We challenged the law in federal court on constitutional and federal supremacy grounds. Through this fight, we helped block some of the most punitive provisions, including those targeting day laborers and criminalizing acts of basic humanity like giving someone a ride or offering shelter.
We took on SB 1070 because it threatened the people we serve. That's what our founders would've done. That's what we still do.
- “Me gusta visitar Valle del Sol porque me atienden muy bien y me ayudan mucho con todo. También allí mismo tengo mi medicamento. ...” - Jady G.
Hispanic Leadership Institute: Building the Leaders We Need
Valle Del Sol Community Health knows healthcare alone doesn't change communities. Leaders do.
The Hispanic Leadership Institute connects and empowers Latino professionals, emerging leaders, and students to organize, advocate, and lead with purpose. Through our various programs around the valley, we're developing the civic power our community needs to shape its own future.
Leadership development isn't a side project for us. It's central to who we are. When communities have strong leaders, they have better health outcomes, stronger advocacy, and real power to change policy. We're not training people to climb corporate ladders—we're building a movement.
What Comes Next for Valle Del Sol Community Health
Under CEO Mike Renaud's leadership, Valle Del Sol Community Health keeps moving forward while honoring where we came from. We've signed the UNITY Pledge supporting equal protection under the law for LGBTQ+ Arizonans, affirming our role as an ally to diverse communities. We're expanding access with mobile health units to meet people where they are. We're growing toward 20 clinics across Phoenix.
We're still activists who happen to run a healthcare organization. We're still fighting for the community that built us. We're still serving families, immigrants, people of color, and low-income neighbors with the same commitment our founders had in 1970.
We're still Valle Del Sol Community Health.
Somos el futuro. Somos el valle.
Looking for medical or mental health care services? Give us a call today at (602) 258-6797!
