U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development

08/09/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/09/2022 13:43

HUD Awards More than $840,000 to Provide Rental Assistance and Supportive Services to Native American Veterans Experiencing or At Risk of Experiencing Homelessness

HUD No. 22-147
HUD Public Affairs
(202) 708-0685 		FOR RELEASE
Tuesday
August 9, 2022

HUD AWARDS MORE THAN $840,000 TO PROVIDE RENTAL ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORTIVE SERVICES TO NATIVE AMERICAN VETERANS EXPERIENCING OR AT RISK OF EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today awarded $841,113 in Tribal HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (Tribal HUD-VASH) expansion grants to three Tribally Designated Housing Entities (TDHEs) to help house 45 Native American Veterans experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. Funding was awarded to two existing Tribal HUD-VASH grantees, Cook Inlet Housing Authority and Tohono O'odham Ki:Ki Housing Authority, and one new Tribal HUD-VASH grantee, White Mountain Apache Housing Authority.

The Tribal HUD-VASH program provides housing and supportive services to Native American Veterans who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness by combining rental assistance from HUD with case management and clinical services provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

HUD Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman announced the awards at the Association of Alaska Housing Authorities (AAHA) and Enterprise Community Partners' Housing Innovation Summit in Anchorage, Alaska. Deputy Secretary Todman also announced that HUD will soon release Tribal HUD-VASH renewal awards to connect even more Native American Veterans experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness with rental assistance and supportive services.

"Our Veterans sacrifice so much to keep us safe. The least we can do is make sure they have a safe and stable place to call home," said Deputy Secretary Todman. "This is funding that can and will help Alaska Native Veterans find relief - and find home."

In 2015, Congress authorized funding for a Tribal demonstration program in order to expand the HUD-VASH program into Indian Country. HUD was directed to coordinate with Tribes, 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. Since its inception, the program has housed more than 600 Native American Veterans and has provided case management services to almost 1,000 Veterans. Tribes will be able to reach more Veterans with today's expansion of the program.

The awards announced today constitute the second round of expansion awards announced under the Tribal HUD-VASH program. HUD awarded $1,021,818 in round one expansion grants in September 2021.

The FY 2021 Tribal HUD-VASH expansion awards announced today are:

Grantee City State Amount of Renewal Award Description of Project
Cook Inlet Housing Authority Anchorage AK $154,869 This grant will be used to provide rental assistance to approximately 10 Native American Veterans, as well as administrative funding to support the program during the period of performance.
Tohono O'odham Ki:Ki Housing Authority Sells AZ $500,304 This grant will be used to provide rental assistance to approximately 20 Native American veterans, as well as administrative funding to support the program during the period of performance.
White Mountain Apache Housing Authority Whiteriver AZ $185,940 This grant will be used to provide rental assistance to approximately 15 Native American veterans, as well as administrative funding to support the program during the period of performance.
Total $841,113