In 1980, lack of housing for migrant and seasonal farm workers in the San Luis, Arizona area prompted a group of community leaders/activists (mostly low to moderate income farm workers) to form a land development cooperative, the Comite de Bien Estar, Inc. (Comite). Through membership dues and contributions, the Comite raised enough money to buy 100 acres of raw desert land from the Arizona State Land Department in 1982. Since then, the Comite has been involved in the development of over 65% of the land area of the City of San Luis, a rural colonia on the U.S. – Mexican border. We have developed 3872 single-family housing lots in twelve subdivisions that have benefited primarily low-income families who would not normally have access to conventional mortgage products. The cooperative land development concept of individual wealth accrual via equity in a lot has facilitated construction of over 2500 homes by leveraging the land equity as a down payment on a mortgage, yet new single-family housing construction continues to lag behind demand primarily because many lot owners lack the financial resources and knowledge of the process to enter the conventional housing mortgage market.

In the past ten years, the Comite has assisted over 2100 low-income families fulfill their housing needs and homeownership dreams with grants from USDA Rural Development (Self-Help), HUD (Rural Housing and Economic Development), Arizona Department of Housing (Homeownership Development), and the Federal Home Loan Bank which has participated in three Low Income Housing Tax Credit projects (Bienestar Apartments, Phases I & II, and Tierra del Cielo) and 18 Affordable Housing Program homeownership projects. Out of 852 subsidies awarded to the Comite, we have placed or obligated 827. Our seventh Self Help 523 Technical Assistance grant began March 1, 2010 and provides Technical Assistance for 147 families over two years. We met our goal of 134 families in our previous 523 TA grant.

Comite established its affiliated Community Financial Development Institute, Border Financial Resources, in August 2008. We became affiliated with NeighborWorks America in October 2008 and with National Council de La Raza in February 2010.