News Release

BUSH ADMINISTRATION AWARDS $6 MILLION TO HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTIONS

WASHINGTON – U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston today awarded nearly $6 million to 10 Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) to help revitalize neighborhoods, promote affordable housing and stimulate economic development in their communities.

The funding is provided through HUD's Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities (HSIAC) Program. For an institution to qualify as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, at least 25 percent of the undergraduate student enrollment must be Hispanic.

"Hispanic-Serving Institutions not only play a vital role as places of higher learning, they can be powerful instruments of community development," said Preston. "I am proud of the partnership HUD has with these colleges and universities so that, together, we can help revitalize neighborhoods, offer needed public services, and stimulate community development around their campuses."

The following colleges and universities were awarded funding:

HUD's Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities (HSIAC) Program is designed to help these institutions address pressing community development needs in their communities. These needs include neighborhood revitalization, housing, and economic development, and other programs that benefit low- and moderate-income families.

The HSIAC grantees awarded funding today will carry out a broad range of community and economic development activities that will help to stabilize their communities and cultivate redevelopment of residential and commercial properties. In addition, HSIAC grants can be used to acquire real estate; to demolish abandoned housing; to help provide homeownership assistance; to support job training and placement; and to rehabilitate residential, commercial or industrial buildings to correct code violations.

Since 1999, HUD has awarded approximately $64 million to stimulate economic and community development in the neighborhoods surrounding the HSIs. The HSIAC Program is one of several initiatives administered by HUD's Office of University Partnerships (OUP). Established in 1994, OUP is a catalyst for partnering colleges and universities with their communities in a shared search for answers to pressing urban problems. More information about OUP and its programs is available on the Internet at www.oup.org.

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HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development, and enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov. For more information about FHA products, please visit www.fha.gov.

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program Summaries

California

Southwestern College (Chula Vista) - $600,000

Southwestern College intends to use its Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities (HSIAC) grant to provide technical assistance to the residents of San Ysidro, California, in the form of education and training, to establish home-based childcare businesses. The Entrepreneurial Training for Home-Based Childcare Businesses program was developed in response to the community needs of San Ysidro. This impoverished community is defined by high poverty and crime rates, limited English proficiency, low educational attainment and high household density. The core services of the Entrepreneurial Training for Home-Based Childcare Businesses program, therefore, have deliberately been created in response to the profile of the target audience; this unique program is free of charge, provided in Spanish, childcare and other support services are available, and there is no minimum level of educational attainment for admission into this program. Business counseling, on-site childcare during training and business mentoring are the core activities of this project.

Imperial Valley College (Imperial) - $600,000

Imperial Valley College intends to use its Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities (HSIAC) grant to stimulate small business development throughout the three major cities of Imperial County (Brawley, Calexico, and El Centro) in an effort to increase entrepreneurial activities resulting in employment opportunities, workforce specialization, and community wide economic development. The proposed project will: implement effective business supportive measures to offset the lack of entrepreneurial activity resulting in the creation of employment opportunities with increased security, wages, and workforce specialization; strengthen the business infrastructure to accommodate the influx of individuals entering the labor pool; and reward entrepreneurial strategies that would result in significant benefits to the very-low and low-income sectors. All activities will benefit low-income individuals by providing: financial assistance for the creation and/or expansion of microenterprises or small business ventures; business training programs; and supportive services to increase the competitive levels of businesses leading to stability and expansion opportunities.

New Mexico

The Regents of the University of New Mexico (Taos) - $600,000

The Regents of the University of New Mexico on behalf of UNM–Taos intends to use its Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities (HSIAC) grant to establish a preschool/school readiness Center for Early Learning, serving 60 children from low- to moderate-income families in northern New Mexico. The college proposes to construct three new classrooms on its campus in Taos, New Mexico. The additional preschool program will utilize the skills and talents available at their institutions to assist communities in undertaking community and economic development activities that benefit low- and moderate-income persons through the provision of affordable, quality childcare and school readiness instruction for 60 preschool age children ages 4–6, enabling parents to pursue education, job training, and work. As part of its school readiness initiative and in further addressing critical community needs, this new program will also promote family literacy, serve as a training center for early childhood education students, and provide training opportunities for regional early care providers.

New York

Research Foundation of CUNY on behalf of Lehman College (Bronx) - $600,000

The Research Foundation of CUNY on behalf of Lehman College intends to use its Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities (HSIAC) grant to provide economic development and stability for businesses and family and child development in the north central Bronx. The college will establish a Small Business Assistance Network by providing three business summits for all merchants; holding annual meetings with local police precincts; obtaining 3 grants for added sanitation services; awarding 30 grants for business improvement; training 100 workers in retail worker skills; and providing business counseling to 90 at-risk businesses. The college will also develop after school programs for children and families by training 25 workers to use problem-based interaction skills with problem behaviors; and training 150 children in Life Skills and 150 family members in Life Skills for Parents, which will take place at five after school programs.

Puerto Rico

University of Puerto Rico at Carolina (Carolina) - $559,895

The University of Puerto Rico at Carolina intends to use its Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities (HSIAC) grant to develop a Community Empowerment Program for Economic Development (CEPED) to expand its role and effectiveness in addressing the community and economic development needs of the low-income residents of the San Antón Barrio. CEPED will stabilize its target low-income communities and contribute to its sustainable development, through the implementation of the following activities: providing technical assistance for the establishment, stabilization, and expansion of minority-owned microenterprises; assistance for grassroots community-based organizations to carry out community economic development activities; provide and promote activities to economically stabilize the San Antón community and promote its sustainable development through employment, education, housing counseling, health, job training, recreation; and promote direct homeownership assistance to low-income persons.

Texas

Texas A&M University–Kingsville (Kingsville) - $600,000

Texas A&M University–Kingsville intends to use its Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities (HSIAC) grant to rehabilitate an existing unsafe building to serve as a community education center. The building will receive extensive repairs, including a new roof and flooring, ADA-compliant restrooms, entrances and ramps, new windows and doors, and foundation repairs. Air-conditioning and outdoor security lights will be installed. The university will then offer two activities through the rehabilitated education center: after school and summer academic enrichment and recreational programs for public school children; and workshops and seminars to encourage homeownership and self-sufficiency among low- to moderate-income (LMI) residents. Examples of expected outcomes include: rehabilitation of the education center as a community resource; instructional and recreational activities for at least 300 low-income K-12 students; bilingual affordable housing training for at least 100 LMI families and 50 elderly or people with disabilities living in assisted housing; and at least 10 percent of families receiving training will move from assisted housing to affordable homes.

The University of Texas–Pan American (Edinburg) - $599,990

The University of Texas–Pan American intends to use its Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities (HSIAC) grant to take information, resources, and training out to residents of the relatively isolated Delta Region communities through the use of the university's proposed Mobile Community-Development Initiative (MCDI). The mobile unit is a 38-foot air-conditioned fifth-wheel trailer, equipped with seating and laptop computers and internet access for up to 15 persons. Staffed by a trainer and community development specialists, the unit will be towed by truck to low-income neighborhoods in the Delta Region to provide resources, information, and training to low-income residents on a variety of community needs as identified by residents in the Delta Region Revitalization Corporation's Comprehensive Strategic Plan for Economic Development and other planning documents and surveys. Through MCDI, residents will gain convenient access to information, resources, and training that will stabilize and contribute to sustainable development of the Delta Region communities.

The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College (Brownsville) - $598,401

The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College intends to use its Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities (HSIAC) grant to create the Go-Green Assistance Center, a new regional clearinghouse of information for improving communities for long-term viability in an ever-changing world. The center will provide a haven for information, educational assistance, training, and outreach for myriad energy conservation issues and methodologies. Some proposed energy efficiency training opportunities and seminars include: energy awareness, solar applications, wind applications, "green" building, alternative power, water conservation, bio-fuels, and "green" business concepts. Some of these training opportunities will be offered in the form of intimate seminars with 15–25 attendees. Other training opportunities will involve larger, community-driven events that will include anywhere from 100–200 attendees. The center will also launch and evaluate a pilot application for solar-powered water heaters, providing a demonstration showcasing the environmental efficacy and money-saving benefits of such a device. In short, the center will pass on innovated ideas for communities in economic development, environmental stewardship, and social equity.

St. Mary's University (San Antonio) - $596,794

St. Mary's University intends to use its Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities (HSIAC) grant to establish a campus-based One Stop Neighborhood Revitalization Center—a physical facility with dedicated staff and community partners—to deliver services to area residents and businesses that promote affordable homeownership, business technical assistance and loans, fair housing counseling, emergency mortgage and utility assistance, and leadership training and volunteer projects to strengthen neighborhood nonprofit organizations. The project is designed to expand the scope and depth of services provided by the university to its community; focus resources on neighborhood revitalization and community redevelopment; and engage students, faculty, staff, and residents in revitalization projects.

Washington

Yahima Valley Community College (Yakima) - $600,000

Yakima Valley Community College (YVCC) intends to use its Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities (HSIAC) grant to build a library in partnership with the City of Grandview. The library will be located on the Grandview Campus and near the downtown area in a centralized location. As a public facility it will serve all members of the community with specific resources for low- and moderate-income individuals. The library will contain facilities and resources that will support economic development activities within the community including a multipurpose room that can be used for training and workshops, networked computers, access to print and electronic media, professionally trained staff, and broad service hours during the day and evening. The college will also offer a yearly series of seminars to the public within the library once it is completed. YVCC will partner with local chambers of commerce as well as the University of Washington Michael G. Foster School of Business and Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Yakima Valley to offer the seminars in both English and Spanish. Topics will include business development and first-time home buying assistance. Furthermore, the seminars will disseminate information on Energy Star products.