HUD awards Muckleshoot Tribe $5 million to preserve, expand its affordable housing inventory

December 11, 2019 1:30 pm
HUD awards Muckleshoot Tribe $5 million to preserve, expand its affordable housing inventory

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Wednesday competitively awarded $38,958,348 in Indian Housing Block Grant funds to 12 tribes, native villages, and tribal-designated housing entities in Alaska, Oregon and Washington, to preserve and expand their affordable housing inventories.

Among the awardees was the Muckleshoot Housing Authority, which received $5 million.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-WA, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined local tribal leaders on Wednesday to announce more than $17.3 million in federal funds going to five tribes throughout Washington state.

“Every family deserves a safe, secure home, and I’m proud to announce this crucial funding to tackle some of the unique housing issues that tribal communities here in Washington state face,” Murray said. “I’ve consistently fought to strengthen funding for the Indian Housing Block Grant Program, which is an important tool that allows communities to address homelessness and housing insecurity on tribal lands. And as a voice for our state, I will keep working in partnership with Indian country to ensure that federal funds from this and other vital programs continue flowing to tribes in Washington state and across the country.”

The IHBG competitive grant awards in Alaska and the Northwest were part of an announcement awarding $197,392,782 to 53 Tribes and TDHEs nationwide.

More than half of the federally-recognized tribes and native villages in the United States are in Alaska, Oregon and Washington, and each annually receives IHBG grants allocated by formula.

The IHBG competitive grants are over and above the approximately $147 million in IHBG formula funding that HUD awarded in fiscal year 2019 to the almost 300 tribes and villages in those three states.

HUD Secretary Ben Carson announced the awards Wednesday in a video broadcast at the National American Indian Housing Council’s annual conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. These awards, Carson said, provide an estimated $90 million dollars in additional resources to equip Tribes with much-needed funding.

“Our tribes and villages face serious, often severe housing issues,” said Jeff McMorris, regional administrator of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for Region X Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington state. “These additional funds will boost their capacity to address the needs and challenges they face.”