Amigos Del Valle functions as a consortium of county and city governments to implement and administer comprehensive human services to the eligible elderly of the lower Rio Grande valley. It was established as part of the Lower Rio Grande Development Council-Area Agency on Aging, organized under the federally funded Title VII Nutrition Project as authorized by the Older Americans Act of 1965. It began services in Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy counties in 1975, under a four-month Title VII grant from the Texas Governor's Committee on Aging. It started with an operating cost of $357,000, and by February 1976 the agency's budget had increased to $1.9 million. In 1979 an Outreach Services program was initiated to provide individual, family, and group counseling on health care, transportation needs, and financial problems for the elderly.