PROYECTO AZTECA

When an unexpected freeze devastated the citrus crop in 1990, many migrant farm workers in the Rio Grande Valley found themselves jobless and unable to support their families. This area of Texas — Hidalgo, Starr, Webb and Willasy counties — has one of the highest concentrations of migrant families in the United States. With over 500,000 families living in “colonias,” isolated communities of the rural poor living along the Texas-Mexico border, the valley took the hit hard.

Proyecto Azteca, founded in 1991 in response to the crisis, took an unusual tack. David Arizmendi is one of the founders of Proyecto Azteca, which began as an extension of the United Farm Workers’ community service. Proyecto Azteca reaches those families at the bottom of the economic ladder — families with incomes that put them outside of the traditional homeownership market. They cannot qualify for virtually any housing assistance programs because traditional lenders are unwilling to take a chance on families with so few resources. As a result, many colonia families build their own homes, often one room at a time using materials salvaged from abandoned structures. With most homes lacking indoor plumbing or other utility connections, Proyecto Azteca is bringing high-quality housing construction to migrant families in the Rio Grande Valley.

The cornerstone of Proyecto Azteca’s housing development work is its Self-Help New Construction Program. Beginning with just two houses the first year, Proyecto Azteca now works with families to build about 100 homes per year. A kit house — typically a 24 ft. by 36 ft., three-bedroom, one-bath unit — is delivered to the site. Construction trainers provide technical assistance for foundations and utilities, but families average a total of 550 hours in sweat equity to complete their homes. The cost to families averages $13,500, and loan payments are between $50 and $100 a month.

Home ownership is just one step in connecting colonia families to the economic mainstream. Proyecto Azteca also operates four community centers, where families find education programs, social services, citizenship classes and free tax preparation. In addition to home mortgages, the Azteca Community Loan Fund makes micro loans so colonia parents can start or expand a business to give their families greater economic stability. To improve his business, selling clothes at flea markets and garage sales, Victor Rodriquez, who moved his family of nine into their own home last year, used a micro loan to buy a pick-up truck so he did not have to pay someone else to haul the shrink-wrapped bundles of used clothes he buys from local warehouses.

Proyecto Azteca’s loans have helped a cabinet maker buy a table saw, an upholsterer buy a specialized sewing machine and a fruit and vegetable seller purchase a trailer to bring his produce to market. “When we help a family have greater capacity, that increases services to the community,” says Arizmendi. “The investment is small, but the payoffs are enormous.”

Proyecto Azteca is a 2003 Honoree of Families Count, the national honors program that recognizes organizations that are making a difference in the lives of families struggling to survive in tough neighborhoods.