From Opportunity Home San Antonio's press release:
Opportunity Home San Antonio hosted a grand reopening today of Victoria Plaza Apartments, a 185-unit public housing community serving senior and disabled residents located south of Hemisfair.
The newly renovated community now features an in-house health clinic made possible through a partnership with the Center for Health Care Services (CHCS). This marks the first time in the State of Texas a public housing authority and a local mental health authority have come together to create a housing model of this kind. The clinic will provide mental health care with supportive services, including skills training, psychosocial rehabilitative services and case management, to residents who are actively receiving mental health outpatient treatment with CHCS.
Built in 1959, Victoria Plaza underwent a multi-million dollar renovation with construction beginning in January 2019. Renovations consisted of expanded fire sprinklers and fire alarm systems, and upgrades to the building, including a new electrical system, air conditioning, new flooring and new energy-rated apartment windows, among others.
“The renovations and improvements, along with the health clinic, will have a tremendous impact on the residents of Victoria Plaza and help ensure they have what they need to thrive in this community,” Gabriel Lopez, Opportunity Home Board of Commissioners chair. “We are also grateful for the City of San Antonio’s continued support and excited for the upcoming renovations made possible by city bond funding.”
In addition to Lopez, Ed Hinojosa, Jr., Opportunity Home CEO and president; John Valdez, Victoria Plaza resident; Sergio Ramirez, CHCS in-house clinic representative; Irene Chavez Galvan, Congressman Greg Casar D-35 district director; and Zuleika Morales-Romero, HUD San Antonio Field Office director; spoke during the grand reopening ceremony. Texas Senator Jose Menendez (District 26) also attended the event and gave remarks.
“What I see today is respect for our senior citizens," said Menendez. “Thank you to Opportunity Home and their leadership. It is key that our seniors are important enough to invest in this historic building. Thank you for standing up for our seniors and making it possible for them to live in their neighborhood and close to their families.”
“Opportunity Home has increased the number of affordable units they have, but they have also thought about the properties they currently have, making sure they live up to the standards that everybody wants to live up to,” said Morales-Romero.