By Blake Deshazo

The Selma Times-Journal 

While many political leaders are in Selma this weekend to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the Selma to Montgomery marches, they are also here to bring change to the Queen City.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julian Castro, took a tour around Selma Friday with Selma Mayor George Evans, Congresswoman Terri Sewell and others to see what can be done to make Selma a better place.

“We’ve had a wonderful tour through Selma looking at the public housing situation here and taking a very realistic view about the Valley Creek as well as the George Washington Carver homes,” Congresswoman Terri Sewell said.

Both housing projects were built in the 1950s, and are in need of updating to offer Selma residents a better life.

“I think that a realistic assessment is the fact that the housing situation here in Selma is old and in need of repair,” Sewell said after taking Castro on a tour. “What we’d like for the secretary to take away is the need for better revitalization and economic help for rural and medium and small sized cities like Selma.”

HUD helps communities improve the quality of housing, life and education among other things, and Secretary Castro made it a point to see the improvements Selma needs to become a better place to live.

While Castro is here to celebrate the 50th anniversary, he is also looking to make a difference in Selma and similar cities in the United States.

“It’s wonderful to reflect on all of the enormous progress that has been made in terms of voting and democratic participation in the United States, but it is also important to reflect on all of the progress we still need to make,” Castro said. “At HUD we call ourselves the department of opportunity, and the thing that excites me most about this role is the chance to create more opportunities for the people who live in public and subsidized housing.”

After touring the city, Castro pointed out several improvements that need to be made in Selma.

“We saw Moss Court, which was built in 2010 and also Valley Creek and GWC [homes], which was built in 1952, so energy efficiency is different, the layout of the housing is different, the materials are different and just the overall quality,” Castro said. “When we’re able to renovate housing and make it more energy efficient and improve it, you are talking about just lifting up the quality of life.”

HUD awarded more than $1.8 billion to public housing authorities throughout the United States. Alabama received more than $54 million of those funds.