Across the United States, there are some 250 clubs, some of which have formed 80 federations, or umbrella groups, that contribute to Tres por Uno in Zacatecas alone, says Fernando Robledo Martinez, director general of the Instituto Estatal de Migracion in Zacatecas.

In the state of Zacatecas, in some cases the program has become four for one, with an additional dollar coming from private companies.

Miguel Moctezuma Longoria, professor of development studies at Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, says that through remittances and cultural ties, immigrants are vital to their hometown communities.

"Immigrants have a presence from a distance," he says in Spanish through an interpreter. "They are part of the original community's destiny and origin."

Tres por Uno was created more than a decade ago by immigrants from Zacatecas, who had been sending money back to their communities for infrastructure projects long before the government got on board, he says.

Gutierrez says the program is becoming more accessible. The Mexican consulate in Salt Lake is advertising the program and helping clubs to organize, and the Utah clubs are forming a federation.

Tres por Uno isn't the only such program. Another program encourages immigrants to invest in businesses that produce jobs in their hometowns in Mexico. Such programs are about building communities and cooperating across borders, Gutierrez says.

"The community decides the project," he says of Tres por Uno. "They can choose the building company, they can choose who benefits, they have their own community manager in Mexico."

However, such projects need approval from the municipality's president, and that's not always easy to come by.

"Sometimes, when a community wants to rebuild a church or soccer field, the government asks, 'Why not bring fresh water to the school?"' he says.

Lazalde says he's lucky that Avila is a proponent of Tres por Uno. However, Avila's term has expired. Lazalde is hopeful that the new president, Jose Angel Zamora, will be as supportive.

Even with his strong ties to Mexico, Lazalde in Utah has also become deeply involved in his new hometown of Murray, as a naturalized U.S. citizen. He has a wife and three daughters, and through his Proyecto Paisano, he seeks to help bridge cultural divides and to help those in need navigate the system.

He says his community involvement was sparked years ago, when he immigrated at age 16 in order to help his ailing mother pay for medical treatment.

"She needed a lot of surgeries," he says. "My dad sold everything he had. My dad said, 'If I have to be on the street, I will do it, but my mother will be OK."'