<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Moni Avila]]></title><description><![CDATA[Moni Avila]]></description><link>https://www.moniavila.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2026 01:43:06 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.moniavila.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[When Your Word Is Your Bond: Integrity as an Act of Leadership]]></title><description><![CDATA[By M. E. Avila Integrity is often discussed as a personal characteristic. We admire people who tell the truth, keep their promises, and do the right thing when no one is watching. Yet leadership demands something deeper. Integrity is not simply about honesty. It is about alignment. It is the ongoing commitment to ensure that what we believe, what we say, and what we do remain consistent over time. There was a time when a person's word carried the weight of a signed contract. A handshake...]]></description><link>https://www.moniavila.com/post/when-your-word-is-your-bond-integrity-as-an-act-of-leadership</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a5bc8dc5e7d848635e22322</guid><pubDate>Sat, 18 Jul 2026 18:56:19 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3f929f_5976ff6c43ad49e0b4a0e7168f19f57b~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Moni Avila</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Beyond the SOP:             What Emergency Operations Planning Can Teach Every Organization]]></title><description><![CDATA[The best operational frameworks aren't built for crises alone. They're built to make everyday operations clearer, more consistent, and more resilient. By M. E. Avila When most people hear the words Emergency Operations Plan (EOP), they immediately think of hurricanes, floods, pandemics, or other large-scale emergencies. They picture emergency managers coordinating resources from an Emergency Operations Center, making rapid decisions under pressure, and guiding communities through uncertainty....]]></description><link>https://www.moniavila.com/post/beyond-the-sop-what-emergency-operations-planning-can-teach-every-organization</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a5815054ee79d90036ec9ad</guid><pubDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2026 23:27:09 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3f929f_c2357d9e859147eaaa32e6190cd6ebe2~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Moni Avila</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Mason Who Built More Than Buildings]]></title><description><![CDATA[By M. E. Avila There is something about Sunday on San Antonio's West Side that feels like coming home. Maybe it's the smell of barbacoa or the bottles of Big Red waiting on the table, the familiar church bells calling families to Mass, or the streets that hold generations of memories. Every Sunday reminds me that I am exactly where I belong. Living on the West Side is more than having an address. It is living among the stories of my family. It is walking streets that my grandparents once...]]></description><link>https://www.moniavila.com/post/the-mason-who-built-more-than-buildings</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a53fd451f3b88f8a4ed07b3</guid><pubDate>Sun, 12 Jul 2026 20:47:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3f929f_0d403ca6843e4443b7869a8d3360c26f~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_616,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Moni Avila</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Obsidian Mirror:                     What Ancient Wisdom Can Teach Modern Organizations About Leadership ]]></title><description><![CDATA[By M.E. Avila Every organization owns a mirror. The question is whether it is willing to look into it. Long before strategic plans, performance dashboards, quality improvement frameworks, and organizational assessments, Indigenous civilizations recognized that effective leadership required more than knowledge or authority. It required reflection. Among the Aztecs, polished obsidian mirrors carried profound symbolic meaning. Obsidian, a volcanic glass formed through intense heat and...]]></description><link>https://www.moniavila.com/post/the-obsidian-mirror-what-ancient-wisdom-can-teach-modern-organizations-about-le</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a4c1cb5a178a38b32c9e90b</guid><pubDate>Sun, 12 Jul 2026 13:00:24 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3f929f_ff4ed653b27d4aba98bc8d612655699b~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Moni Avila</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Wisdom We Don't Measure:                                         Why Community Knowledge Belongs in Emergency Management]]></title><description><![CDATA[By M.E. Avila Emergency management has long been defined by its ability to organize complexity. Plans establish structure before disasters occur. The Incident Command System provides a common framework for coordination. Hazard mitigation reduces future risk, logistics move resources where they are needed most, and exercises strengthen readiness before disasters occur. These systems have transformed emergency management into one of the most sophisticated multidisciplinary professions in public...]]></description><link>https://www.moniavila.com/post/the-wisdom-we-don-t-measure-why-community-knowledge-belongs</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a5270b65c421b82021d16f8</guid><pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2026 16:59:17 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3f929f_5540b339155a4b2896c0fa6b93f3b658~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Moni Avila</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Beyond the Plan:                               Building Resilient Communities Before the Disaster Strikes]]></title><description><![CDATA[By M. E. Avila When most people hear the words emergency management, they picture hurricanes, floods, wildfires, or Emergency Operations Centers buzzing with activity. They think about response. I think about everything that happens before that moment. After working across public health, community engagement, violence prevention, workforce development, and emergency preparedness, I have come to believe that the strongest emergency plans are not built during a disaster. They are built through...]]></description><link>https://www.moniavila.com/post/beyond-the-plan-building-resilient-communities-before-the-disaster-st</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a515c5dc549c55b35af1962</guid><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 20:56:08 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3f929f_5520c373d286445baa59c22aa92a1211~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Moni Avila</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[(Sharing 7/6/2026)                         Biweekly CHW Message:           Heat &#38; Sun Safety]]></title><description><![CDATA[Heat &#38; Sun Safety Did you know? About 1 in 33 housing units in the Five Points area and 1 in 40 in the Harlandale area have no A/C. (Live link to map above: CI:NOW). If the indoor temperature is 95 degrees or more, we recommend getting to a place with A/C, like a store or one of the Places to Stay Cool. If that's not possible, then cool off with fans and water, cold showers, icy drinks, and ice packs. Fans alone can backfire and make you warmer at high temps because they just push hot air...]]></description><link>https://www.moniavila.com/post/sharing-7-6-2026-biweekly-chw-message-heat-sun-safety</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a4bd1134b45b0060e256505</guid><pubDate>Mon, 06 Jul 2026 16:22:17 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3f929f_dd1e1b03ef1c4dea9a4776b7bf630356~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_942,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Moni Avila</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Accountability Is a Public Health Intervention]]></title><description><![CDATA[By M.E. Avila One of the greatest lessons I learned as a Culture of Health Leadership Institute (CoHLI) Fellow was that health equity is never just about healthcare. It is about relationships. It is about power. It is about trust. Most importantly, it is about whether our institutions are willing to hold themselves to the same standards they expect from the communities they serve. That lesson has stayed with me throughout my career. Whether I have been working alongside community health...]]></description><link>https://www.moniavila.com/post/accountability-is-a-public-health-intervention</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a4a80f5f7b480551f129e31</guid><pubDate>Sun, 05 Jul 2026 16:18:14 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3f929f_94d580f4530748fba87e8e93d0462a67~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Moni Avila</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[(Sharing 6/28/2026)                Biweekly CHW Message: Kratom and 7-OH ]]></title><description><![CDATA[What Are Kratom ​and 7-OH? The Bexar County Medical Examiner recently found that a local chef died from a mixture of kratom and alcohol.  Kratom-related calls to Poison Control Centers doubled from 2024 to 2025.  What Is Kratom? It's the leaf of a tree in the coffee family, traditionally used in a ceremonial tea in Southeast Asia. Depending on the dose, it can act like a stimulant or an opioid. One of its many active compounds is 7‑hydroxymitragynine ("7-OH"), which causes more of the...]]></description><link>https://www.moniavila.com/post/sharing-6-28-2026-biweekly-chw-message-kratom-and-7-oh</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a41b5ee51416e35e7818eb8</guid><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:13:48 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3f929f_ea4bc5a2e32d4ed1875e85029f0f4e5c~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Moni Avila</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[RESOURCE links]]></title><description><![CDATA[Domestic Violence Resources National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1 (800) 799-SAFE (7233) | Text BEGIN to 88788 National Teen Dating Violence Hotline: 1 (866) 331-9474 (24/7 hotline) | Text START to 88788 Battered Women's and Children’s Shelter: (210) 733-8810 (24/7 hotline) Bexar County Family Justice Center: (210) 631-0100 | Mon-Fri 8 AM - 5 PM Rape Crisis Center: (210) 349-7273 (24/7 sexual assault hotline) Abused Deaf Women’s Advocacy Services (24/7 ASL-accessible Deaf hotline) Deaf SHARE:...]]></description><link>https://www.moniavila.com/post/resource-links</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a41b1463c06bdad5424c661</guid><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 23:52:25 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3f929f_a592f90e5791490aad0bb59c64de9233~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_381,h_226,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Moni Avila</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[When Trust Changes]]></title><description><![CDATA[By M. E. Avila When I wrote When Survivors Lose Control of Their Story Again, I believed I was writing about one experience. I have since realized I was writing about something much larger. I wrote about what it feels like when a survivor begins to lose control of their story again. I didn’t realize I was also writing about what happens when trust begins to change. Since publishing that article, survivors, advocates, colleagues, friends, and complete strangers have reached out to me. Many...]]></description><link>https://www.moniavila.com/post/when-trust-changes</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a412d7769b2dfbbf125ecee</guid><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 14:25:11 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3f929f_1d4c23a80096431abd402940a811b9d4~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Moni Avila</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[When Survivors Lose Control of Their Story Again]]></title><description><![CDATA[By M. E. Avila I thought I had healed. Not in the simplistic way people often imagine healing. Not in a way that erased what happened or made the memories disappear. I knew those experiences would always be a part of me. But I thought I had reached a place where my story belonged to me. I thought I would decide when to tell it. I thought I would decide who to tell it to. I thought I would decide how much of it I shared. That choice mattered because for much of my life, I didn't have many...]]></description><link>https://www.moniavila.com/post/when-survivors-lose-control-of-their-story-again</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a388f496eab84e606085437</guid><pubDate>Mon, 22 Jun 2026 01:42:15 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3f929f_2475d596e4dd4f468b9850530086a1c7~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_737,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Moni Avila</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>