(AUSTIN) — The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) today announced that it has awarded a $600,000 contract to Val Verde County to continue funding operations of the county’s Colonia Self-Help Center, which promotes homeownership and self-sufficiency for residents in five colonias in the county.

The contract will provide a wide range of technical and consumer assistance to an estimated 5,391 residents living in the following colonias: Escondido Estates, Val Verde Park and Val Verde Park #2, Town of Comstock, Cienagas Terrace, and Lake View Addition.

TDHCA’s Val Verde Colonia Self-Help Center, one of seven along the Texas-Mexico border, supports the efforts of local colonia residents to improve their own living standards while making the most of limited housing funds. 

“The Department’s Colonia Self-Help Center Program provides residents the skills and tools to improve their homes and communities through collaborative effort,” said TDHCA Executive Director Tim Irvine in announcing the contract. “Our state has a long history of working to better ourselves while offering a hand to our neighbors in need. Together with the county, we look forward to continuing that tradition.”

County officials will subcontract with area nonprofit organizations to carry out the activities of the center. The contract is expected to help repair 12 homes through self-help activities and reconstruct another seven homes.

The remaining funds will be used to operate the center’s tool library, use of the center’s computer lab, and provide solid waste clean-up in the targeted colonias.

The Colonia Self-Help Center Program is funded by the federal Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) through a Memorandum of Understanding between the Texas Department of Agriculture, which receives the state’s CDBG allocation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and TDHCA.

For more information regarding this program, please contact Val Verde County staff directly at (830) 774-7552.