Covacevich: Acuña Garza is right. We need to increase RGV literacy rates.

I agree with Dr. Ida Acuna Garza when she said we need to increase the literacy rate in the Rio Grande Valley. Dr. Garza worked with me while we both were working for Hidalgo County. We realized a need for mortgage funding for families with B credit rating. 

With the assistance of Valley Mortgage Company , Estrada Hinojosa Inc. and Dr. Garza, we created the Hidalgo County Housing Finance Corporation and funded mortgages for over 65 families that could not get mortgage funding under regular underwriting criteria. 

As mentioned in a previous Rio Grande Guardian news story, the Hidalgo County Health Director stated that “housing” (substandard housing) was the number one reason for the high incidence of health issues in Hidalgo County.

Dr. Acuna Garza implemented a financial literacy program for families who obtained funding from the Hidalgo County Housing Finance Corporation. Families who underwent this literacy program had a lower default rate than otherwise. Without the implementation of this literacy program, the success of this Mortgage Program would not have occurred.

Thank you Dr. Acuna Garza.

Editor’s Note: The above guest column was penned by Anthony Covacevich, a former city manager of Weslaco, Texas, who has worked in public administration for over 35 years in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Covacevich is presently a registered accessibility specialists licensed by the State of Texas  to perform plan reviews and inspections of newly constructed and renovated buildings. The above column appears in The Rio Grande Guardian with the permission of the author. Covacevich, who resides in Weslaco, can be reached by email via: covacevich@aol.com.

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