Aideé Granados’ journey from cancer to community empowerment

When Aideé Granados moved from Mexico to the United States in 2012, she couldn’t have anticipated how drastically her life would change. Just a year after her arrival, she received a diagnosis that would reshape her future: breast cancer.

As an immigrant navigating an unfamiliar healthcare system while battling a life-threatening illness, Granados experienced firsthand the overwhelming health disparities facing Hispanic women in America. She encountered language barriers, cultural disconnects, and a profound lack of accessible wellness education—challenges that millions of Hispanic families face daily across the country.

“I was an immigrant navigating a totally new healthcare system,” Granados recalls. “And I saw how many Hispanic women, not only myself, were facing late diagnosis, language barriers, a lack of health and wellness education, and limited access to healthier lifestyles.”

This personal health crisis became the catalyst for a remarkable journey of healing and purpose. In 2014, after becoming a certified health coach, Granados launched a digital blog called Rosa Es Rojo, which would eventually evolve into SuperVive, formerly ROSAesROJO, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making health and wellness accessible to Hispanic women and their families throughout the United States.

Building a Movement of Resilience and Hope

SuperVive’s mission extends far beyond basic health education. The organization is strategically dismantling the systemic barriers that have historically prevented Hispanic communities from accessing quality wellness resources. Through culturally tailored programs centered on four key pillars—nutrition, mental health, physical activity, and empowered health—SuperVive is creating positive health communities where prevention stands at the forefront.

“We are leading Hispanics to live healthier lives and reduce the incidence of chronic diseases among them,” Granados explains. This work has taken on increased urgency in light of alarming health disparities. Hispanic communities face disproportionately high rates of diabetes, obesity, hypertension, suicidal ideation, and cancer, with the American Cancer Society identifying cancer as a leading cause of death among Hispanics in the United States.

Granados identifies four primary barriers driving these disparities:

1. Language barriers: While 81% of Hispanic adults prefer healthcare providers who speak Spanish, only 7% of doctors in the U.S. are Hispanic.
2. Lack of social capital: Despite stereotypes of tight-knit Hispanic communities, many immigrants experience profound social isolation, with immigrant women reporting higher rates of loneliness than U.S.-born Hispanics.
3. Financial constraints: With 25% of Hispanics living below the poverty line, medical insurance and preventive care remain out of reach for many.
4. Cultural barriers: Fear, shame, discrimination, and taboos around health topics prevent many from seeking necessary care.

SuperVive’s approach addresses these barriers through culturally relevant programming delivered in Spanish, peer support networks, community-building initiatives, and empowerment strategies that equip Hispanic women to take control of their health journeys.

The Four Pillars: A Holistic Approach to Wellness

SuperVive has strategically built its programming around four interconnected pillars that transform the abstract concept of wellness into tangible, accessible practices for everyday life.

“When we talk about wellbeing, sometimes it could be like such a broad and general concept,” Granados notes. “So, we wanted to translate wellbeing to something more tangible.”

Each pillar addresses a critical aspect of health that faces unique barriers in Hispanic communities:

Nutrition: Food serves as both a foundation for health and a cornerstone of cultural identity. SuperVive’s approach acknowledges the deep relationship between food and Hispanic culture while providing practical education on nutritional wellness.

Mental Health: Breaking through stigma and taboo, SuperVive normalizes conversations around mental wellbeing in a community where such discussions have traditionally been avoided. “We don’t talk about ‘I feel bad, I feel lonely, I need to go to a psychologist’ because that’s a taboo topic,” Granados explains.

Physical Activity: Reframing exercise beyond expensive gym memberships or competitive sports, SuperVive promotes the value of everyday movement—walking dogs, dancing, playing with children, or completing household chores—as accessible forms of physical wellness.

Empowered Health: Knowledge and self-advocacy form the foundation of this pillar. “I didn’t know that I could go to a hospital and ask for a translator. I didn’t know that I could ask for financial aid,” Granados shares, highlighting how education empowers women to advocate not only for themselves but for their families and communities.

While participants often engage with SuperVive seeking change in just one area, they quickly discover the interconnected nature of these pillars. This holistic approach equips them with life skills that extend beyond individual health outcomes to influence family and community wellbeing.

Real Impact: Lili’s Story

The transformative potential of SuperVive’s model comes to life through stories like Lili’s. An Ecuadorian immigrant who arrived in the U.S. at 17, Lili experienced her first health wake-up call when her 21-year-old brother passed away from lymphoma. Despite this tragedy, she continued to struggle with prioritizing her health.

After moving to Dallas and becoming a mother to three children, Lili discovered SuperVive. She began with small steps—focusing on mental health and emotional management before building a consistent fitness routine. Impressively, while caring for a baby, she trained for and completed her first 5K in 2022, followed by a triathlon.

Today, Lili serves as a health advocate and SuperVive ambassador, extending the organization’s impact through her own community networks. Recently, when hospitalized for a cardiovascular event, Lili relied on the SuperVive community for practical support—food, childcare, errands, and companionship.

“Even though we keep struggling with these health disparities and social determinants of health consequences, the community is a source of health,” Granados reflects. “Having my community beside myself definitely is improving the way that I’m living.”

Technology as a Tool for Connection: The SuperVive Comunidad App

When the COVID-19 pandemic intensified social isolation within already vulnerable communities, SuperVive pivoted to meet the moment. The organization developed the SuperVive Comunidad app, a free digital platform offering 24/7 access to wellness resources entirely in Spanish.

The app provides wellness education, live classes, book clubs, health challenges, recipes, a virtual gym, and a meditation center. More importantly, it offers something many Hispanic immigrant women desperately need: community.

“The women that are part of SuperVive Comunidad app, they are finding a community to be inspired, supported, and motivated,” Granados explains. “When I don’t want to go for a walk, I can just go to the app and see that Juliana or Lily or Tanya, they already walked their dogs or jumped on a trampoline. I can do it as well.”

What began as a content platform has evolved into a true community resource. After two and a half years, user-generated content now flourishes alongside SuperVive’s educational materials. “Solutions are in the hands of the community,” Granados observes, “and we only have to ask and listen.”

Recognition and Expansion: The Echoing Green Fellowship

SuperVive’s innovative approach to health equity earned Granados selection as an Echoing Green Fellow in 2022. This prestigious fellowship provides social entrepreneurs with $80,000 in unrestricted funding over 18 months, plus access to a global network of changemakers and support services valued at $200,000 per Fellow.

“Echoing Green has been transformational,” Granados shares. Beyond financial support, the fellowship has provided “mentorship, visibility, and a global network that I would say is more like a global family of social innovators, who all of us, are sharing our commitment to change the systems.”

With Echoing Green’s backing, SuperVive has expanded beyond North Texas to serve Hispanic communities in California, Virginia, and Puerto Rico. The organization has also strengthened its operational model, refined its metrics and evaluation processes, and secured additional funding opportunities through enhanced credibility and connections.

The Road Ahead: From Behavioral Change to Systemic Transformation

Looking toward the future, Granados envisions SuperVive as more than just an organization—it’s “a movement of resilience, empowerment, collective health, and hope.”

The organization aims to scale its reach nationwide through the SuperVive Comunidad app while creating localized positive health communities in states beyond Texas. A new corporate initiative called Thriving Teams is piloting workplace wellness programs for Hispanic employees, connecting individual wellbeing to productivity and organizational success.

By partnering with hospitals, community clinics, and other nonprofits serving Hispanic communities, SuperVive is building momentum toward lasting systemic change. “We are changing behaviors and most of the time, systemic change is seen as, ‘okay, but we are just changing the policies,'” Granados notes. “Definitely that’s part of systemic change. But also the base of the pyramid is changing behaviors.”

This focus on behavioral transformation coupled with community empowerment promises a ripple effect that extends far beyond immediate health outcomes. “It’s going to be a generational impact,” Granados affirms, one that will influence her daughter’s generation and beyond.

As SuperVive continues to grow, Granados remains focused on the stories that sustain her through challenges—stories of transformation, resilience, and community support that affirm the organization’s vision and impact.

“If I just think that we are the only ones doing this, I can cry the whole day,” she admits. “But when I realize and see my fellows from Echoing Green or other fellowships that they are also struggling, they are also staying motivated with this, my hope grows.”

Join the Movement

Are you passionate about health equity for Hispanic communities? Visit SuperVive’s website to learn more about their programs and download the free SuperVive Comunidad app from Google Play. Join a growing movement that’s transforming Hispanic health outcomes one community at a time.