HUD AND VA AWARD $5.9 MILLION TO 26 TRIBES TO PROVIDE PERMANENT HOMES FOR NATIVE AMERICAN VETERANS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS
WASHINGTON - For the first time, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today awarded $5.9 million in grants to 26 Tribes to offer a permanent home and supportive services to Native American Veterans who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. The Tribal HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (Tribal HUD-VASH) Program is a demonstration program that will combine $5.9 million in rental assistance from HUD with case management and clinical services provided by VA to serve 500 Native American Veterans. See chart below.
HUD Secretary Julin Castro announced the winners in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the winter meeting of the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes.
"By targeting resources directly to Tribes, we can better honor the service and sacrifice of Native American Veterans who now need a roof over their heads," said Castro. "These heroes deserve hope for a brighter future, and by offering permanent housing solutions, combined with needed services and case management, we can work with Tribes to end veteran homelessness."
HUD invited 30 eligible Tribes to seek Tribal HUD-VASH vouchers to help house and serve hundreds of Native American Veterans who are currently experiencing homelessness or at extreme risk of becoming homeless. Twenty-six Tribes, from Alaska to New Mexico, will deliver and manage the housing vouchers among their members who need them, on tribal lands.
"Targeting HUD-VASH vouchers to Veterans living on tribal lands opens new opportunities for helping Native American Veterans exit homelessness as quickly as possible" said Secretary of Veteran Affairs Robert McDonald. "We are pleased that recent statutory changes to the HUD-VASH Program made it possible to award these vouchers for use within Indian Country, where Native American Veterans have existing support systems that can be aided by those provided under the HUD-VASH Program to help the Veterans remain stably housed."
Since 2008, more than 79,000 vouchers have been awarded and approximately 103,000 homeless Veterans have been served through the broader HUD-VASH program. Rental assistance and supportive services provided through HUD-VASH are a critical resource for local communities in ending homelessness among our nation's Veterans. In FY2015, Congress authorized funding for a demonstration program in order to expand the HUD-VASH program into Indian Country and directed HUD to coordinate with Indian Tribes, tribally designated housing entities (TDHEs), and other appropriate tribal organizations on the design of this program, and to ensure the effective delivery of housing assistance and supportive services to eligible Native American Veterans.
The Tribal HUD-VASH awards announced today are:
State Tribe City Amount # of Veterans
to be Housed Alaska Cook Inlet Housing AuthorityAnchorage$313,05820Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing AuthorityJuneau$324,74920The Association of Village Council Presidents Regional Housing AuthorityBethel$391,74020Arizona Navajo Housing AuthorityWindow Rock$268,83520Hopi Housing AuthorityPolacca$210,43215San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation, ArizonaSan Carlos$233,10015Tohono O'odham Nation of ArizonaSells$302,93620Minnesota Leech Lake Housing AuthorityCass Lake$159,02220White Earth Reservation Housing AuthorityWhite Earth$142,98020Montana Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of MontanaBrowning$229,17120New Mexico Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New MexicoZuni$123,28810North Carolina Lumbee Tribe of North CarolinaPembroke$185,60420North Dakota Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa IndiansBelcourt$173,94220Standing Rock Housing AuthorityFort Yates$234,17820Oklahoma Cherokee Nation of OklahomaTahlequah$194,40520Cheyenne-Arapaho TribesConcho$272,01620Choctaw Nation of OklahomaHugo$246,99220Osage Nation of OklahomaPawhuska$265,43820Muscogee(Creek) Nation, OklahomaOkmulgee$216,56620Oregon Warm Springs Housing AuthorityWarm Springs$240,23720South Dakota Ogala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, South DakotaPine Ridge$190,89820Sicangu Wicoti Awayankapi (Rosebud)Rosebud$183,01120Washington Yakama Nation Housing AuthorityWapato$145,28320Spokane Indian Housing AuthoritySpokane$245,80920Colville Indian Housing AuthorityNespelem$179,89220Wisconsin Oneida Tribe of Indians of WisconsinOneida$204,93420TOTAL: $5,878,516 500
The Tribal HUD-VASH Program will provide rental assistance and supportive services to Native American Veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness living on or near a reservation or other Indian areas. HUD is making available $5.9 million in grant funding to Indian Tribes and TDHEs to fund rental assistance and associated administrative fees.Indian Tribes and TDHEs participating in this program will partner with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide healthcare assistance to eligible Native American Veterans.
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/press/press_releases_media_advisories/2016/HUDNo_16-001
