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Harlingen staff announces CDBG, HOME and ARP programs to speed housing repairs and veteran assistance
Summary
City Community Development staff outlined federal grant awards and programs — including CDBG, HOME, Healthy Homes and Home ARP — and said staff can begin taking applications soon to use existing housing-rehab funds for emergency repairs after recent flooding.
Sandy Alvarez, Community Development (CDBG) director, told the Harlingen City Commission that the city’s Community Development Department administers federal grant programs used for housing repair, public‑works projects and social‑service subrecipients. "This year, we received, 913,635 in CDBG funds and $325,911.52 in home funding," Alvarez said, listing the current entitlement amounts the department is handling.
The presentation outlined a suite of concurrent federal programs staff are implementing and seeking to accelerate for local need. Alvarez described an ongoing Healthy Homes grant (applied for in 2022, awarded June 2023, funds released September 2024) under which city staff have taken 82 applications, determined eligibility for 26 households, completed about 18 inspections and finished their first completed home. She said repairs under Healthy Homes are limited to safety and health fixes, with a cap of $10,000 per home to address hazards rather than cosmetic remodeling: "the repairs are only up to 10,000 per home," Alvarez said.
Alvarez also described the city’s housing rehabilitation and reconstruction…
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