Focus Group Announcement

BROWNSVILLE, HARLINGEN, and SAN BENITO HOST COMMUNITY FOCUS GROUPS

The Cities of Brownsville, Harlingen, and San Benito are hosting a series of focus group meetings to solicit feedback on community needs and fair housing challenges in preparation for the development of their Five-Year Consolidated Plans and their Analysis of Impediments (AI) to fair housing. These documents are required by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as part of HUD’s grant allocations to the Cities.

The Consolidated Plan requires a review of data and community concerns to establish goals that will guide the use of HUD funds over the next five years. Community participation is essential to ensure the cities’ plans meet the needs of their residents.
The AI is an assessment of housing and opportunities in the community to identify potential obstacles to fair housing and fair housing choice. Action steps will be developed to address these obstacles.

At each meeting, an overview of the consolidated planning and fair housing assessment process will be provided followed by break out discussions for each city. The meetings will focus on topic areas and all residents and community stakeholders are invited to attend.

Resident-centered focus groups will also be held individually for each City. These meetings will be an opportunity for residents specifically to voice concerns on all topics noted above as well as any additional feedback they would like to provide.

Information to join the Zoom meetings is below.

Housing and Infrastructure/Facilities Focus Group – April 8 at 11:00 am central

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88940822264?pwd=YjUzTXNBUk1QY04rWXU5a3kxTjBlQT09

Meeting ID: 889 4082 2264

Passcode: 614398

Public Services Focus Group – April 9 at 1:00 pm central

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89156589467?pwd=Y0JSQzZVZmpRN3BXMXBMb3c5VytUZz09

Meeting ID: 891 5658 9467

Passcode: 018878

Economic Development Focus Group – April 9 at 3:00 pm central

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81218545288?pwd=M1JZbkFxbzFMZmExWElzeVFGY2hDQT09

Meeting ID: 812 1854 5288