Upon moving to Harlingen, TX in 1981, Dr. Nanjappa Sreenivas has viewed the lower Rio Grande Valley as a close home away from home in terms of the community and family values. Dr. Sreenivas and his wife, Sumitra, both grew up in southern India near the city of Bangalore. During their upbringing, before Bangalore became the bustling it is today, life centered more on agriculture than technology. Sumitra’s family owned a coconut farm and Dr. Sreenivas’s family had a flourmill he would work at after school. To leave that life behind and raise a family in America, they needed an education and support from family, friends, and the community. Upon completing his medical education in India, Dr. Sreenivas moved to England and began practicing there.   He ultimately found himself in Oklahoma to do his residency training in psychiatry and mental health, after a brief stint in Chicago, where the snow and cold weather was more than he cared for.
 

      While his daughter, Rashmi, was born in Norman, Oklahoma, it did not feel like quite the right place to raise a family. Dr. Sreenivas and Sumitra found that right place to be Harlingen, Texas, where his son, Kiran, joined the family. Harlingen’s roots in agriculture and the belief among residents in working hard to help not just yourself, but also your family and community, meant a lot to Dr. Sreenivas. Working hard, however, is not enough to succeed, as Dr. Sreenivas has learned through working in a myriad of settings, ranging from Rio Grande State Center to Doctors Hospital at Renaissance to Holistic Optimal Health Center. One must also work smart to succeed, which is why Dr. Sreenivas believes so strongly in education as a means to success. 

 

       Additionally, with over 30 years of experience in providing therapy in the Rio Grande Valley, Dr. Sreenivas understands the community’s need for therapists and broader mental health support. In the end, Dr. Sreenivas hopes these scholarships help individuals help a community be a home to those who come from near and far.