(AUSTIN) — The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (“TDHCA”) today announced that it has awarded a $700,000 contract to Hidalgo County to continue funding operations of the county’s Colonia Self-Help Center, which promotes homeownership and self-sufficiency for residents living in five county colonias.

The contract will provide a wide range of technical and consumer assistance to an estimated 1,838 residents living in Whitewing Subdivision, Roadrunner #2, Linda Vista Estates, Muniz, and Carlos Acres colonias.

The Hidalgo County 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, according to Tim Irvine, TDHCA Executive Director. 

“This truly unique program provides colonia residents the skills and tools to improve the quality of their home through their own initiative,” he said. “This not only increases their standard of living and quality of life, the program opens the door for community development, infrastructure improvements, and a host of other benefits for the entire region.”  

The county will contract with a local nonprofit to administer the Center’s day-to-day activities. The contract calls for $550,000 to be used to help with the reconstruction of 11 homes.  

Irvine said that the balance will be used to help cover expenses related to a lending tool library, solid waste removal, and the operations of the Center’s technology resources. 

TDHCA’s Colonia Self-Help Center Program is funded by the federal Community Development Block Grant (“CDBG”) Program 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 Hidalgo County directly at (956) 787-8127.