Affordable Homes of South Texas gets $600K to further its mission

Community-based non-profit organization Affordable Homes of South Texas, Inc. (AHSTI) has been given a $600,000 cash injection from Wells Fargo & Company to further its goal of providing affordable housing and related services to eligible families in the state.

The money comes in the form of an equity-equivalent investment, and will be used to promote public welfare in targeted areas, the companies said. The investment will leverage an earlier $600,000 grant given to AHSTI by the Border Community Capital Initiative (BCCI) via the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) last year.

“The investment from Wells Fargo comes at a crucial time as demand for affordable housing continues to increase,” says Robert Calvillo, AHSTI executive director. “It is inspiring when companies, specifically Wells Fargo, commit to making the American dream of homeownership accessible to more families in need of assistance.”

The BCCI was set up to support nonprofits like AHSTI in their mission to provide affordable housing through lending and investing activities. The idea is to boost such organization's access to capital so they can further their mission in the “underserved and undercapitalized” U.S.-Mexico border region, AHSTI said. Specifically, the funding providers direct investment and technical assistance to community development lending and investing institutions that are focused on providing affordable housing, small business and community facilities to benefit the residents of the region.

“Wells Fargo is proud to support AHSTI with a $600,000 investment which will be used for its Revolving Loan Fund that serves as an accessible low-interest financing stream for income-eligible, first-time homebuyers in Hidalgo County,” said Jerry Romero, community development officer for Wells Fargo in Greater Texas. “By working together to serve this community, we anticipate financing an estimated 150 mortgages over the next 10 years through this investment, which was generously matched by federal resources provided by the HUD Border Capital Community Initiative for 2015.”

AHSTI said the funds would be deployed as mortgages for first time buyers and small business loans via the BCCI.