(Photo by Patricia M. MacGrath)
By CATHERINE DONNELLY
Special to the PRESS
As a monument to the cooperative vision of several stakeholders, a groundbreaking ceremony on the ‘Judy’s Casitas’ project took place on Wednesday, November 8. The project is dedicated to and named after the late Judy Sanchez, who worked for the Port Isabel Housing Authority (PIHA) for 39 years and rose to be its previous Executive Director.
“Naming the expansion after the late Judy Sanchez will honor a remarkable woman who dedicated her life to the Port Isabel Housing Authority,” stated Board Chairman J. Victor Baldovinos. “Judy’s Casitas will greatly benefit our community by housing many families in the Laguna Madre Area.”
Investing in low to moderate-income neighborhoods is crucial for developing affordable housing opportunities in the lower Rio Grande Valley, which still has the distinction of being designated as a “group of communities of persistent poverty.” Typically, an investment in affordable housing can be the catalyst of economic health, safety, and upward economic mobility for the people and families living in an area.
Across the country, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program is the most important resource to help create affordable housing for low-income individuals and families. Created by the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the program gives state and local LIHTC-allocating agencies the authority to issue tax credits for building, buying, or rehabilitating rental housing for lower-income households.
The Casitas project expands affordable rental housing in the City of Port Isabel and surrounding areas. It is a venture that brings together a non-profit organization dedicated to affordable housing, the Port Isabel Housing Authority, its subsidiary non-profit, the Port Isabel Public Facilities Corporation (PIPFC), and other partners like the Economic Development Corporation (EDC).
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