Cuellar praises CHA’s work on anniversary, gives hope for more funding, resources

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The Cotulla Housing Authority is approaching its 60th anniversary, a milestone celebrated on Tuesday, March 31, with local officials and a presentation from District 28 US Congressman Henry Cuellar.

The congressman met with CHA Director Sandra Ramos, Cotulla Mayor Sandra Luna, La Salle County Judge Leodoro Martinez III, housing authority board members, staff and residents as well as county officials and praised the organization for its service to the economically disadvantaged and needy for the past six decades.

Rep. Cuellar noted that recent redistricting in Texas has extended his district further into La Salle along lines approximating an earlier coverage area, and said he looks forward to promoting the county and community for grant funding when it becomes available.

The congressman is among those who helped launch the Operation Stonegarden law enforcement salary subsidy grant for those officers working additional hours in border-area security, and said last week that he believes burgeoning economic development along the IH-35 trade corridor puts La Salle County in the target zone for further attention.

“I hope to secure up to a million dollars for you,” the congressman said at the reception in the housing authority offices, “because I believe that La Salle County needs a youth center.”

The effort to further develop public facilities and provide access to recreation as well as essential social services, Cuellar said, is part of a wider directive to help improve quality of life for area residents.

“We all have certain basic needs,” the congressman said, “and they include food, security, compassion, and housing. What you have provided here for sixty years is help to those people of your community who need it most.

“We thank the pioneers who started this,” Cuellar added, “and for sixty years you have been prioritizing this.

“For the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, it is important to continue providing funding,” the congressman said, noting that federal budget cuts have affected a number of departments providing essential services. “We want to protect that. I believe it was a big mistake to reduce Community Development Block Grant funding.

“We started something in Laredo that has assisted many families,” he added. “We began a tiny-house project, and we want to expand on it. I hope I can work with you on that.”
Cuellar touted the benefits of collaborative efforts between agencies in providing services directly to the needy or economically disadvantaged, and said he continues efforts to provide access to resources through his congressional offices in the communities of his district.

“I bring the different agencies together,” Cuellar said of the services he hopes to provide through his local offices. “This is Washington coming to you.”

The housing authority’s new director was hired by the board in late 2025 and is supported by Mayor Luna in her efforts to modernize the organization that provides affordable accommodation to the disadvantaged, either at its complexes in downtown Cotulla and on Hwy 97 or through Section 8 subsidized rental agreements with local property owners.

“We are grateful to the city and county governments for backing us as we move forward in revamping the facility,” the mayor said. “We went through sixty years of establishment, and now we are updating and digitizing, which takes a team effort. We will be looking for more grants to get things done.”