Building Community and Hope in South Texas
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Victor Rodriguez cuts lumber for his new home. |
Victor Rodriguez and his wife Francisca lived in a small cinder-block house, sharing one tiny bedroom with their three young daughters. When Francisca gave birth to quadruplets in November 2000, the family's situation became desperate. Through a local home-building program, Proyecto Azteca, Rodriguez was able to build a new home for his family of nine.
"The house we used to live in was old, with holes in the walls. It had water leaks all over the roof except for the one room where we slept," Rodriguez says. "During
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The Rodriguez family, including their little quadruplets. |
winters, we sealed that room to protect ourselves from the cold and in the summer the house was extremely hot. Now, our house is a palace compared to the one we used to live in before. We don't suffer from the heat or cold. The experience of building my own house has drastically changed my life. I am very proud of giving my family a new home, and it is satisfying seeing the fruit of my own hands. My wife and children are happier, and they feel safer. I just see it in their eyes."
Proyecto Azteca, in San Juan, TX, helps families to build homes. But more importantly, it builds hope and community.
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Make-shift structures often serve as homes in the colonias. |
It has enabled numerous families to overcome the despair of abject poverty and begin to build assets, a key step along the road to self-sufficiency and Family Economic Success (FES).
Founded in 1991, Proyecto Azteca serves residents of the "colonias" - poor, isolated rural communities along the Texas-Mexico border - located east of McAllen , TX , approximately one hour inland from the Gulf of Mexico.
Residents are primarily migrant workers who are employed in seasonal jobs
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Colorful curtains help brighten this little girl's dreary home. |
harvesting farm crops, traveling with construction crews, or laboring at meat-packing plants in the Midwest. Often forced to leave their families behind for months at a time, they work hard, in demanding jobs often shunned by others, yet make barely enough money to survive. Their low incomes don't allow them to qualify for most traditional housing programs. Consequently, many colonia families live in dilapidated structures made of materials salvaged from abandoned buildings, with no indoor plumbing or utility connections.
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