In the dark: Residents receives new home, but has no electricity yet

Maria D. Garcia had been waiting for months for her Christmas present to arrive: a new home courtesy of the Brownsville Community Development Corp.

Garcia was one of 10 Cameron Park residents who received new homes this fall from BCDC after the organization received a federal grant.

"If you give a person a decent place to live they're going to be able to do decent things with their life," said BCDC board member Father Mike Seifert.

But as the holidays neared, Garcia was still living in a makeshift shanty, waiting for utilities to be installed in her new home. Winter came, and the cold sliced through gaps in Garcia's plywood walls. Child Protective Services told her it was an improper place to raise her two 15-year-old grandsons.

For six weeks, Garcia waited for services. TXU Energy placed an installation order which was pushed back by AEP, the local electricity provider.

"We did everything right. We put in the service order," said Sophia Stoller, a TXU spokeswoman. "(AEP) has their reasons for moving the date."

The BCDC home is now complete. But until untilities are installed, the corporation will not allow Garcia to move in. Of the BCDC grantees, she is the only one who has not yet been able to move into her home.

"We call every other day," said Garcia's daughter Adriana. "They get annoyed, but what can we do? We want my mom to have something."

After a cold front came to Brownsville, Garcia's children took her to their homes in Austin and San Antonio. "We couldn't let her stay here," Adriana Garcia said. "Everyone was getting sick."

AEP is expected to install the services at some point next week.

"It's too bad," Seifert said. "It would have been a great Christmas present."