From Opportunity Home San Antonio's press release:
The San Antonio City Council voted today to support Opportunity Home San Antonio through an Accessibility and Modernization fund as part of the FY 2024 Annual Operating and Capital Budget. The purpose of the fund is to address the pressing capital needs including repairing, rehabilitating and modernizing housing units operated by Opportunity Home, particularly those occupied in family and elderly communities.
With the support of District 5 Councilperson Teri Castillo, who formally submitted the Accessibility and Modernization fund proposal to City Council, Opportunity Home introduced the proposal in an effort to establish a funding stream to aid in the critical work of the organization for San Antonio residents.
The $1 million budget allocation will help address capital needs at some of the more than 70 housing communities across the city affecting more than 60,000 families.
“The city’s vote to provide annual local funding to Opportunity Home will make actual, sustainable inroads in providing quality local housing for San Antonio residents that they can access and afford,” said Ed Hinojosa, Jr., president and CEO of Opportunity Home. “These critical funds will help us to maintain and modernize our existing affordable-housing stock to improve the quality of life of those we serve.”
Specific funding goals are to improve housing infrastructure conditions, enhance accessibility, increase the resiliency of housing units to natural disaster and other emergencies, heighten safety in Opportunity Home communities, and impact the local economy by generating employment opportunities with the creation of construction and maintenance jobs.
“We are grateful for the support of Mayor Nirenberg and the City of San Antonio. It truly underscores our collective effort to address the housing crisis and potential cuts in federal funding,” said Gabe Lopez, Opportunity Home Board of Commissioners chair.
Opportunity Home will continue to work with local, state and congressional partners to explore all available financial avenues to address public housing infrastructure.
Since 1937, Opportunity Home San Antonio has built and maintained affordable housing for the residents of San Antonio, which is primarily funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Opportunity Home San Antonio’s aging public housing infrastructure, some of which was built in the late 1930s, is deteriorating. More than 6,000 families live at these properties. Federal funding is currently limited and there are potential cuts in funding for 2024. HUD allocates approximately $13 million a year for capital improvements despite the nearly half a billion in infrastructure needs for the aging housing portfolio. To adequately address maintenance concerns and upgrades, local funding is essential to closing this financial gap.
Currently, the organization provides housing assistance to more than 62,500 children, adults and seniors through its Public Housing, Housing Choice Voucher and Mixed-Income housing programs. Opportunity Home manages more than 70 public housing communities, 27 mixed-income apartment complexes and administers over 13,000 rental vouchers throughout San Antonio.