Pedro Rodriguez, Executive Director and CEO of the Coachella Valley Housing Coalition (CVHC), is in a deeply reflective mood. This month, Rodriguez celebrates his 30-year anniversary with the organization—26 as its CFO, and four in his current role.
For Rodriguez, helping serve low-income individuals and families through the nonprofit’s various housing programs has been life-altering.
“I ascribe to Mark Twain’s philosophy: find something you love to do, and you never have to work a day in your life,” he said. “That’s very true for me. I love that I can use my skills to develop affordable housing to help low-income families.”
There have been challenges doing that throughout the years, of course, and Rodriguez sees more of them to overcome in the months ahead.
“Given the current situation with immigration issues, we’re noticing a lot of uncertainty among our residents, especially the farmworker community,” Rodriguez said. “Some of them, even though they’re legal, are still afraid. They’re concerned about going to work.”
He sees a potential need for rental assistance in the months ahead, adding that residents living in fear—those who can’t ‘go to work” or have limited work—may not be able to afford rent or food.
Recent grants from Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF) through the Polly R. Reynolds Fund and the Riverside County ARPA Fund may temper those needs; however, Rodriguez is quick to praise the recent funding for helping buoy some of CVHC’s other programs.
“Grants are very critical,” he said, “The development money we receive doesn’t go directly to programs. We have to generate that funding. The IECF grants help us pay for the programs we have.”
There are many of those, in fact.
CVHC’s Community programs immediately stand out. The offerings include everything from community gardens and connections to child development and computer technology centers, to after-school centers and music and dancing classes.
Credit counseling, homebuying education, and contractor applications are also part of the mix.
“Two years ago, I started an annual giving fund,” Rodriguez said. “The idea is to promote our services to the people we do business with. We wanted to let them know that we don’t just build; that we’re not just developers. We also provide services, and we need funding for those programs.
“The IECF grant will help a lot of people,” he added, “especially our after-school programs, because we have to finance them.”
The nonprofit’s signature mission, however, is to serve families who have a strong motivation to become homeowners yet are unable to purchase housing on the open market. To that end, CVHC’s rental housing is a valuable stepping stone to homeownership, helping individuals and families, and others with special needs who are not accommodated by the private market.
One way families can achieve home ownership is through the nonprofit’s self-help housing component. In this way, families can form an informal association, thereby agreeing to help each other build their homes. Technical assistance would be provided by a seasoned construction supervisor.
CVHC is currently building in Brawley, Salton City, and Imperial. Rodriguez encourages individuals to visit the nonprofit’s website for detailed information.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez remains watchful as the current political climate heats up.
“We partnered with FIND Food Bank because they have a program to provide free food to agencies,” he said. “So, we started with free food, and then the need was so great that we started paying for it. We couldn’t drop the program. Now, there’s going to be a great need for us for food distribution in our sites.”
“It’s a sad situation, to be honest,” he added. “A lot of hardworking people are being affected by these immigration issues, and it’s unfair to them because they’re here to work, and they do work that nobody wants to do. Who wants to be out there in the fields working in 100-degree temperatures?”
He also points out the substandard housing in the area.
“Overall, there is a huge need for housing in the eastern part of the Valley,” he said. “And we want to help.”
Learn more at cvhc.org.
This story originally appeared in the Desert Sun, June 2025.
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