Affordable townhomes open in Pasadena using Hurricane Harvey disaster relief funds

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]Nearly 9 years ago, Hurricane Harvey ripped through southeast Texas. It was a historic storm that flooded hundreds of thousands of homes and caused billions of dollars in damage.

[00:00:09]>> Yeah, the images are really still unbelievable. Well, data we analyzed from the Houston Housing Department shows 28,000 buildings were still impacted by the storm a year after it came ashore. What's more, homelessness had increased by 15%.

[00:00:22]>> Fast forward to today. Harris County is now committing federal Harvey recovery funds for brand new town homes in Pasadena. All of this an effort to continue rebuilding. ABC13's Brianna Willis live at the new neighborhood off Vista Road near Highway 225. Brianna, leaders say this is going to help longterm as well.

[00:00:40]Yeah, that's correct, Jonathan and Erica. And all of these homes that you can actually see behind me, well, they're listed for just under $300,000.

[00:00:46]Now, applications, they're actually open right now, but they're all based on income levels. So, to give you an example, if you're a family of four that makes just under $80,000, well, your family would qualify. Officials here tell us the goal is to not only lead to home ownership but also help bridge the homelessness gap.

[00:01:03]>> Three, two, one.

[00:01:06]>> 54 qualifying Harris County families are able to live at Orchard Place in Pasadena.

[00:01:12]>> Um, it's going to have a great floor.

[00:01:14]>> Dina Flores and her family are one of them.

[00:01:16]>> It's a blessing for me and I'm a single mom, so it's a blessing for me and my kids because u rent is very expensive and at least this is something that will be ours one day. Flores tells me since Hurricane Harvey, there's been a lot of ups and downs for her family, but she's grateful to be at this point in looking at her future home.

[00:01:34]>> We had tried to apply for a grant um about a year ago. Uh but then we ran out of time, so we weren't able to to get a get a home and then I was sent an email uh inviting us to the open house they had and so we came and we applied.

[00:01:49]>> To me is very special. Paris County housing and community development leaders say the new single family town homes are meant to bridge the gap between government funding and an already approved loan amount for the homeowner. While the program can help up to 45% when it comes to price reduction and closing costs, they say the longevity is up to the future homeowner.

[00:02:10]>> This is the other end of home ownership where you do have to have steady income.

[00:02:17]You have to have a job. you have to be able to uh be able to borrow in order to pay for the mortgage. So, but we need all of this.

[00:02:27]>> Executive Director Tal Costa says whether it's apartment units or affordable town homes, all are necessary to help get people off the streets.

[00:02:36]>> All of these factors come together, all of our housing inventory makes a difference. So to keep homelessness from occurring, we have to address housing at all spectrums.

[00:02:48]>> Flores and her family now ready to get packing.

[00:02:51]>> We're going to go get boxes and we're going to start doing that today.

[00:02:56]>> Yeah. And leaders told us this afternoon it was a $20 million disaster recovery grant that made all of these homes possible. Once again, applications are now open. If you're interested, you can find those on the Harris County Housing and Community Development website. We're live from Pasadena this afternoon. I'm Brianna Willis, ABC13 Eyewitness News.