NEWS: Congressman Greg Casar Delivers Nearly $3M for Westside San Antonio Affordable Housing

SAN ANTONIO – Today, Congressman Greg Casar (D-Texas) joined Westside leaders and housing advocates to celebrate his office securing nearly $3 million for affordable housing projects in San Antonio in this year’s Congressional budget. 

“Housing is a fundamental right, and people not only have a right to live — but to live well,” said Congressman Greg Casar (D-Texas). “The people who build, serve, and make San Antonio such a great city should be able to afford to live here. With this nearly $3 million investment, we’re showing how democracy can deliver for working Texans. We’re making sure that people can not only continue to live on the Westside, but can thrive.”

This federal funding was made possible through the Community Project Funding process for the Fiscal Year 2024 spending bills. Three San Antonio organizations received housing-related funding, including:

• $1,050,000 — Esperanza Peace and Justice Center for the Esperanza Community Land Trust, community owned housing to protect existing extremely low-income housing in San Antonio’s historic Westside and to keep Westside residents from being pushed out by rising costs.
• $850,000 — Mexican American Unity Council for the Westside Homestead Preservation Center, a one-stop for vulnerable, often elderly, homeowners in the Westside, where they can also receive assistance to ensure they can retain ownership of their family homes and maintain clear title of their property.
• $850,000 — Opportunity Home San Antonio for the Alazán Expansion development to ensure that Opportunity Home can continue serving the families of the Westside with dignity and care.

“We wish to thank Congressman Casar for supporting the Esperanza Community Land Trust — the first community land trust in San Antonio — created in partnership with the historic Westside Residents Association, and focusing on San Antonio’s Westside,” said Graciela I. Sánchez, director of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, at the press event. “Many Westside families have lived here for generations, and we have strong community and cultural ties that are irreplaceable. Yet the Westside is now in danger of losing its cultural and community identity with the neighborhood impoverished by years of systemic racism, and now threatened by gentrification. Together, we will keep the cultural and historical magic of this sacred place strong, and keep our gente housed, and our built-environment intact for thousands of years.” 

“These funds are a much-needed resource for our Latino homeowners to ensure their family inherits the wealth they have worked so hard to build,” said Fernando Godinez, president and CEO of MAUC.

“Opportunity Home is grateful to Congressman Greg Casar for securing $850,000 for the expansion of the Alazán-Apache Courts, our oldest public housing community,” said Ed Hinojosa, Jr., president and CEO of Opportunity Home San Antonio. “The Alazán expansion means that existing and future families of the community will continue to have a place they can call home and where they can thrive without being burdened by rising housing costs.” 

“Today, we celebrate an important funding victory for our city’s Westside. Our state is experiencing an affordable housing crisis, and San Antonio is at the heart of that problem,” said State Senator José Menéndez (SD-26). “When you don’t have to worry about rent or mortgage payments, it frees up costs for groceries, health insurance premiums, car payments, and other important family expenditures. Thank you Congressman Casar, for prioritizing the needs of our community.”

“I am grateful for the collaborative leadership of Congressman Greg Casar, and his work to ensure that we continue to provide deeply affordable housing for the residents of District 5,” said San Antonio City Council Member Teri Castillo (District 5). “These housing initiatives are a game changer, and I look forward to our continued partnership to tackle the housing crisis in San Antonio.” 

The organizations applied for the grants through Casar’s office last year. It was approved in the first round of the appropriations government funding packages that passed the U.S. House on March 6 and signed by President Joe Biden on March 9, 2024.

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Congressman Greg Casar represents Texas’s 35th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, which runs down I-35 from East Austin to Hays County to the West Side of San Antonio.  A labor organizer and son of Mexican immigrants, Casar serves as the Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus for the 118th Congress. He also serves on the Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Committee on Agriculture.