CHUD helps expand lunch program to Texas Colonias

In search of Texas locations with an extreme need for children’s summer lunch programs, Catholic Charities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service turned to Texas A&M’s Center for Housing and Urban Development for help.

In response, representatives from CHUD’s Colonias Program helped the agencies expand the federal Summer Food Service Program to include several locations in Texas colonias — unincorporated and impoverished settlements along the Texas-Mexico border that often lack basic infrastructure such as running water, sewage systems and paved roads.

The expansion of the lunch program into the colonias will potentially triple the number of children served in the Rio Grande Valley, according to an article appearing in the Summer 2011 edition of “At the Table,” a newsletter serving the USDA’s Southwest Region.

CHUD’s Colonias Program implements solutions that reduce the isolation of impoverished colonias residents by helping them become full participants in the U.S. economy and society. The program, a familiar presence in the region, operates a network of promotoras , trained social workers, who help connect the colonias residents with social services available through public and private sector organizations.