Texas Border Business
By Roberto Hugo González / Texas Border Business
McALLEN, Texas — Affordable Homes of South Texas dedicated its HomeOwnership Center as the Robert “Bobby” Calvillo Home OwnershipCenter on Wednesday, honoring the late leader whose decades of service helped expand homeownership opportunities across South Texas.
The July 8 dedication marked the anniversary of the day Calvillo first joined the organization. Family members, current and former board members, elected officials, community leaders, staff, volunteers and partners attended the ceremony.
Chief Executive Officer Myra Martinez said the date was chosen because Calvillo recruited her in 2011 to help oversee construction and the grand opening of the Home Ownership Center, making the dedication especially meaningful.
“He believed that a home was stability, dignity and a foundation for families,” Martinez said.
Janie Vela, vice president and director of home buyer development, delivered the invocation, thanking God for 50 years of the organization’s work and praying that the renamed center would remain “a place of hope, opportunity and new beginnings.”
Martinez also shared remarks from former McAllen Mayor Jim Darling, who recalled that he and Calvillo “agonized over every foreclosure,” noting that foreclosures remained remarkably few compared with the broader market.
NeighborWorks America Chief Executive Officer Marietta Rodriguez said the McAllen center is among the organization’s most productive nationwide and described the dedication as honoring “a life devoted to serving others.”
Quoting Calvillo, Rodriguez said, “The work we do is helping somebody.” She said he transformed Affordable Homes of South Texas from a homebuilder into a comprehensive community development organization offering mortgage lending, homebuyer education, housing counseling and multifamily housing while fostering a culture centered on serving families.
Rodriguez also noted that NeighborWorks America honored Calvillo with its Founders Award the previous year, crediting him with building an organization positioned to continue serving future generations.
Speaking for the family, Joy Calvillo thanked employees and board members, saying, “The community is better because of the work that you do.”
Drawing on his experience in the District Attorney’s Office, he encouraged employees to continue teaching financial literacy, including understanding insurance and paying bills, and urged community partners, including credit unions and banks, to keep building partnerships that help families.
“I challenge the employees to continue educating our community,” he said. “Continue doing Bobby’s work.”
The ceremony concluded with a ribbon cutting for the Robert “Bobby” Calvillo HomeOwnership Center and an invitation for guests to visit the Spurs conference room, which displays memorabilia donated by Calvillo’s family from his office and career.
