US announces $83M in latest round of tribal housing grants

US announces $83M in latest round of tribal housing grants

SeattlePI.com

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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Emergency management officials on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota have a new building, but they have been operating out of an old jail that's set to be torn down.

That's because the new building near a small airport doesn't have water and sewer connected, said Lislie Mesteth, who runs the Oglala Sioux Tribe's solid waste program. A new round of grant funding that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Tuesday will make those connections and help emergency responders into their new digs.

“They never had enough money to get it built entirely, so we've been doing little grants here and there,” Mesteth said.

The $3.4 million grant to the Oglala Sioux Tribe is part a third round of “imminent threat funding” from HUD, using money from the American Rescue Plan Act. The latest infusion — $83 million — will benefit 74 tribes across the country and boost the total amount awarded so far to $209 million spread among 191 tribes.

“This is thankfully, historic levels of funding in this particular program, and I know we’re grateful for it, and I know the tribal communities are as well,” said Adrianne Todman, deputy secretary of HUD. “This is a fair amount of money.”

At least one more round of funding is coming with the remaining $71 million, she said.

Tribes have been eagerly awaiting the money to cover cost overruns for existing projects and to start new ones. The Native Village of St. Michael in Alaska is getting $1 million to build 26 tiny homes to help alleviate a housing shortage. The Northern Arapaho Tribal Housing Authority in Wyoming will use its $1 million grant to buy a couple of mobile medical units to aid its COVID-19 response.

Tribes in Arizona and New Mexico have been awarded grants in all three rounds for...

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