Proyecto Azteca was established in1991 in the spirit of Cesar Chavez with the collaboration of the United Farm Workers of America, Texas Rural Legal Aid and the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service. Proyecto Azteca was created to respond to the housing crisis in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley colonias located in Hidalgo County.
Proyecto Azteca’s board of directors comprised of farm workers and low income colonia residents developed a self-help housing program adapted to the colonia tradition of owner-built homes.
In the first year, Proyecto Azteca organized construction with just four families. Over the years, Proyecto Azteca has gradually increased its production rate and its present construction capacity goal is 50 families per year.
In 2012, HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program helped Proyecto Azteca purchase the 32 lots in a subdivision in the city of Edcouch, Texas. Built for families of all income levels with homes that are completely weather sustainable; Lynchburg is the first silver LEED-certified neighborhood south of Austin. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is used as a benchmark of green building design, construction and maintenance, with the silver category ranking as its third-highest level of certification.
Today Proyecto Azteca is a nationally recognized, community-directed, self-help housing organization that has financed and trained more than 600 families in the construction and first time ownership of their own homes in over 150 Hidalgo County colonias.
Proyecto Azteca office located in San Juan, TX
