HAC in the News
Jennifer Emerling / There Is More Work To Be Done
Jennifer Emerling / There Is More Work To Be Done
HAC Borrowers Highlighted in Colonias Report
The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas recently released its report, Las Colonias in the 21st Century: Progress Along the Texas-Mexico Border in which it cites HAC’s Rural Research Report, Housing in the Border Colonias. The report is a comprehensive overview of improvements and continuing challenges of the colonias. The colonias are largely isolated residential areas along the Texas-Mexico border, as well as in Arizona, New Mexico, and California, which often lack basic necessities like clean water, sanitation and adequate housing.
According to the report, infrastructure in the colonias has improved in the last two decades. Since 2006, nearly 290 colonias have acquired basic infrastructure such as paved roads and solid waste disposal. However, housing has not improved at the same rate. The improvements to infrastructure have resulted in an increase to the price of rental lots, which has made finding affordable and safe housing difficult. After paying more for their lots low-income families have less left over for other housing-related spending, such as connecting to utilities. The demand for safe and affordable housing in the colonias exceeds the supply significantly. Luckily, there are developers building affordable housing in order to meet some of that demand.
Both organizations that are featured in the housing section of the report, Community Development Association of Brownsville (CDCB) and Lower Valley Housing Corporation (LVHC), are borrowers of the HAC Loan Fund. LVHC’s mutual self-help housing program has helped more than 1,300 families find safe, affordable housing in the colonias over the past 24 years. CDCB has provided 3,565 housing units for low-income families in the colonias through a variety of programs. Additionally, Nick Mitchell-Bennett, CDBC’s Executive Director, co-authored an article entitled, “Always Improving, One Misstep at a Time” for Rural Voices magazine.
Nick Mitchell-Bennett (right) discusses a project with HUD Secretary Julián Castro
