2005 Consolidated Plan and Strategy

Executive Summary

 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires local jurisdictions to prepare a Consolidated Plan and Strategy in order to receive federal funds through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), and Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) Programs.

 

The Consolidated Plan and Strategy serves the following functions:

 

1)       A planning document for local jurisdictions, which builds upon a participatory

             process at the grassroots level;

 

2)       An application for federal funds under HUD's formula grant programs;

 

3)       A strategy to be followed in carrying out HUD programs; and

 

4)       An action plan that provides a basis for assessing performance.

 

This five-year Consolidated Plan and Strategy is the result of an extensive needs assessment and community outreach process conducted by the Rio Grande Valley Entitlement Communities (RGVECs), which is comprised of the following local jurisdictions:

 

1. Hidalgo County Urban County Program (including the Cities of Alamo, Alton,

    Donna, Edcouch, Elsa, Granjeno, Hidalgo, La Joya, La Villa, Mercedes, Palmhurst,

    Palmview, Penitas, Progreso, Progreso Lakes, San Juan, Sullivan City, Weslaco,

    and the unincorporated parts of the County)

 

2. City of Brownsville

 

3. City of Edinburg

 

4. City of Harlingen

 

5. City of McAllen

 

6. City of Mission

 

7. City of Pharr

 

8. City of San Benito

 

The RGVECs are a group of eight HUD entitlement communities that combined their Consolidated Planning efforts to develop a comprehensive approach to the use of HUD program funding for housing and community revitalization in the South Texas region. The RGVECs’ Consolidated Planning process provides a valuable opportunity to shape a variety of housing and community development programs into effective and well-coordinated neighborhood, community, and regional development strategies. It also creates the opportunity for strategic planning, community-wide consultation, and citizen participation to take place in a comprehensive context, thereby reducing duplication of effort at the local level.

 

Three national goals serve as the overall framework for the use of Consolidated Plan funds, and guide the RGVECs’ Consolidated Plan and Strategy:

 

1)       Provide decent housing, including:

 

§          Assisting homeless persons to obtain affordable housing;

§          Assisting persons at risk of becoming homeless;

§          Retaining affordable housing stock;

§          Increasing the availability of affordable permanent housing in standard

condition to low-income and moderate-income families, particularly to

members of disadvantaged minorities without discrimination on the basis of

race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability;

<>§          Increasing the supply of supportive housing which includes structural     features and services to enable persons with special needs (including persons with

HIV/AIDS) to live in dignity and independence; and

§          Providing affordable housing that is physically accessible to job opportunities.

 

2)       Provide a suitable living environment, including:

 

§          Improving the safety and livability of neighborhoods;

§          Increasing access to quality public and private facilities and services;

§          Reducing the isolation of income groups within areas through spatial

deconcentration of housing opportunities for lower income persons and the 

revitalization of deteriorating neighborhoods;

§          Restoring and preserving properties of special historic, architectural, or

aesthetic value; and

§          Conserving energy resources.

         

3)       Provide expanded economic opportunities, including:

         

§       Job creation and retention;

<>§          Establishment, stabilization and expansion of small businesses (including
micro-businesses);

§          Provision of public services concerned with employment;

§          Provision of jobs for low-income persons living in areas affected by those

programs and activities, or jobs resulting from carrying out activities under

programs covered by the plan;

<>§          Availability of mortgage financing for low-income persons at reasonable rates using non-discriminatory lending practices;

§       Access to capital and credit for development activities that promote the long-

term economic and social viability of the community; and

§          Empowerment and self-sufficiency for low-income persons to reduce

generational poverty in federally assisted housing and public housing

 

The RGVECs will pursue these three national goals to principally benefit extremely low-, low-, and moderate-income individuals and families living in their respective entitlement communities.

 

In order to further these national goals, the RGVECs’ Consolidated Plan and Strategy assesses the combined housing and community development needs of the region’s entitlement communities, and describes the mutual priorities and strategies that will be initiated and/or completed during the five-year period beginning FY 2005/2006 until 2009/2010. In addition to presenting such information in the aggregate for the RGVECs, the Consolidated Plan illuminates—where appropriate—how individual entitlement communities differ from the region in order to adequately represent local needs, priorities, strategies, and goals. However, consistent with the overall goals of the “regional” Consolidated Planning process, the RGVECs have pursued a unified vision of housing and community development actions at both the local and regional levels. (return to top)