Harlingen officials to launch emergency housing repairs using CDBG funds, Healthy Homes and ARP dollars

Harlingen officials said they will begin accepting applications within weeks for emergency housing repairs funded through the city’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) housing rehabilitation and reconstruction program and related federal awards.

City Development Director Sandy Alvarez told the commission on Tuesday that Harlingen receives annual CDBG and HOME allocations from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and has additional grants from the American Rescue Plan (HOME-ARP) and a separate Healthy Homes award. “We could start in maybe two weeks at most,” Alvarez said when asked how soon applications could be taken, noting environmental reviews and income verifications are required.

The announcement follows Mayor Norma Sepulveda’s earlier statement that the city secured $900,000 in veterans grants after local advocacy in Austin. “We’re able to secure $900,000 for our veterans here in the city of Harlingen, and we hope to roll out that program in July,” Sepulveda said during opening announcements.

Why this matters: Alvarez said the city has about $400,000 available within its housing rehabilitation/reconstruction allocation that can be used for emergency repairs—enough, at the program’s $10,000-per-home cap, to assist roughly 40 households if awards take…