SAN ANTONIO – The Opportunity Home San Antonio is closing in on its pledge to provide free air conditioning units to every one of its 2,400 tenants who have been sweltering without them.
The work is 75 percent complete, with 200 to 250 units being installed each week. Target date for completion is July 19.
“During the summer months when it’s getting very hot, and temperatures are rising above 100 degrees, a cooling system makes a big difference for them,” says Marivel Resendiz, Opportunity Home’s communications manager.
David Vasquez received a free air conditioning unit in his Cassiano Homes apartment today. (SBG photo)
Residents are delighted with the units, which are being installed at Cassiano Homes today.
“It’s a blessing,” says David Vasquez, who received a unit today. “It’s real hot. It’s a good thing.”
The program cost approximately $1.5 million, with local businessman Gordon Hartman contributing a third of the total price.
Installation started a couple of months ago. At the time, local officials hoped the Housing and Urban Development department, which requires heating in all units but not cooling, would supply a third of the funds. But the window units were not deemed to be permanent installations, forcing the city to come up with alternative funding for the final third of the project.
“We had made a commitment to install these units by summer,” Resendiz says. “We’re seeing a lot of gratitude from the residents.”