The Dry Creek Community Needs Assessment and GIS Mapping Project has been set in motion to assist the Dry Creek Band of Pomo Indians in collecting relevant, accurate, and comprehensive data about the characteristics, demographic trends, and other needs of both the community and physical environment of the Band.
The Eastern Shoshone Children's Lodge is a new tribally owned development on the Wind River Reservation that serves as a temporary home for children placed into protective custody. The focus of the Economic Feasibility Assessment will be to provide insights and recommendations to support the lodge’s programmatic operations.
The Northern Cheyenne Health and Housing Needs Assessment is a comprehensive study conducted to identify the most pressing needs of the residents of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.
The Warm Springs Housing Study and Needs Assessment will provide the background necessary to develop a comprehensive housing plan that meets the needs of current and future community members. The household survey seeks to gather accurate information about the residents and households of the Warm Springs Reservation which will ensure that CTWS’s divisions and programs have up-to-date information to guide decision making while also helping the tribe build tribal data collection capacity.
The Cow Creek Housing Needs Assessment will help Cow Creek quantify its housing needs by answering two key questions:
What are the Housing Needs (of Membership) both inside and outside of the Seven County Service Area?
What are the housing needs and what demand exists for housing in Roseburg?
The Dry Creek Community Needs Assessment and GIS Mapping Project has been set in motion to assist the Dry Creek Band of Pomo Indians in collecting relevant, accurate, and comprehensive data about the characteristics, demographic trends, and other needs of both the community and physical environment of the Band.
The Eastern Shoshone Children's Lodge is a new tribally owned development on the Wind River Reservation that serves as a temporary home for children placed into protective custody. The focus of the Economic Feasibility Assessment will be to provide insights and recommendations to support the lodge’s programmatic operations.
The Warm Springs Housing Study and Needs Assessment will provide the background necessary to develop a comprehensive housing plan that meets the needs of current and future community members. The household survey seeks to gather accurate information about the residents and households of the Warm Springs Reservation which will ensure that CTWS’s divisions and programs have up-to-date information to guide decision making while also helping the tribe build tribal data collection capacity.
The Tulalip Tribes Community Needs Assessment has been set in motion to assist the Tulalip Tribes in collecting relevant, accurate, and comprehensive data about the characteristics, demographic trends, and other needs of the communities of the Tulalip Tribes. The project presents an exciting opportunity to shape housing, health, education, and economic development strategies that meet the collective needs of Tulalip community members.
This project will take place as a part of a larger statewide Tribal health and housing study that will incorporate new data collection in Tribal and Native communities and an overarching stakeholder-driven framework of meetings, discussion sessions and working groups involving Tribes, Tribal programs, Native organizations and the agencies and organizations serving and supporting Tribal and Native communities to revisit outdated approaches, foster innovation and advance more proactive policies.
We are honored to be partnering with the Urban Institute and the National American Indian Housing Council to coordinate Indigenous Economic Development through a community of practice funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). This initiative is designed to convene current and potential EDA tribal grantees to build capacity for project planning and implementation via training and technical assistance for indigenous communities, and to facilitate expanded access to EDA’s economic development funding opportunities for tribes.
"Sustained progress across Indigenous communities has commonly resulted from sharing experience, knowledge and successful models and strategies,” said Kevin Klingbeil, managing director of Big Water Consulting. “Big Water looks forward to facilitating this critical knowledge sharing process at a time when Tribes and Native communities are increasing their planning capacity, capitalizing on new opportunities, responding to unforeseen challenges, and incorporating new sources of funding and technical assistance.”
Nch’i Wana Housing is working with Big Water Consulting to conduct a Community Needs Assessment of people living along the Columbia River at treaty and in-lieu fishing sites and adjacent communities. The Community Needs Assessment will collect actionable data that Nch’i Wana Housing and its partners providing services to tribal members and residents of these sites can use to plan for future housing and community development projects and to strengthen their programs and services.
Lake County, California
Big Valley Rancheria is home to the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians, descendents of the Xa-Ben-Na-Po Band of Pomo Indians that have inhabited the Clear Lake area of present-day California for thousands of years. The Big Vallery Rancheria Community Needs Assessment seeks to gather data on the housing and other programming needs of Big Valley residents and Tribal members. The needs assessment will also inform renovations to rental housing being conducted by Sustainable Native Communities Design Lab at MASS Design, a Native-owned architecture firm.
Rosebud, South Dakota
SWA Corporation received an allocation of nearly $5 million through the US Department of Treasury’s Homeowner Assistance Fund Program. This pandemic-relief program supports homeowners in avoiding foreclosure and improving housing stability following the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The White Earth Housing Needs Assessment is being conducted to support the White Earth Nation in its efforts to implement a Housing Needs Study. For this project, the White Earth Housing Authority will conduct a survey of residents throughout the study area as well as focus groups, interviews and community meetings to help determine the availability of and need for housing on the White Earth Reservation.
The Salish & Kootenai Housing Authority is working with Big Water Consulting to convene a regional coalition of governments and non-profit organizations to address the housing crisis facing the Flathead Indian Reservation. The Housing Needs Assessment will collect actionable data that communities can use to plan for future housing and community development projects.
Auburn, Washington
Muckleshoot Indian Tribe is composed of descendants of the Duwamish and Upper Puyallup peoples of Central Puget Sound. The Muckleshoot Community Needs Assessment seeks to gather data on the housing and other programming needs of Muckleshoot Reservation residents and Tribal members. The needs assessment will also inform a permanent supportive housing development in partnership with BeauxSimone Consulting and RTHawk Housing Alliance.
Fort Hall, Idaho
The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes are federally-recognized tribes residing on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, located in the eastern Snake River Plain of southeastern Idaho near the town of Pocatello, Idaho. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of Fort Hall comprise the eastern and western bands of the Northern Shoshone and the Bannock, or Northern Paiute, bands. After the success of the 2016 Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Community Needs Assessment, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes have launched the 2021 Shoshone-Bannock Community Needs Assessment and Housing Fabrication Facility Feasibility Study.
Whiteriver, Arizona
The White Mountain Apache Housing Authority (WMAHA) initiated the White Mountain Apache Housing Needs Assessment on behalf of the White Mountain Apache Tribe (WMAT) in order to develop forward-looking planning and program management and to identify and measure the needs of communities throughout the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. The Tribe selected Big Water Consulting to coordinate the effort and provide training and technical assistance throughout the project. This housing needs assessment included a household survey that collected data from 654 homes on the reservation and had an overall response rate of 97.2%.
The Appraisal Market Study was commissioned by the South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition (SDNHC) to describe the market for home appraisals on the nine Indian reservations in South Dakota and enable appraisers to evaluate the potential business opportunities available to them on reservation lands. Big Water Consulting used existing, available data from federal, state, and Tribal sources and interviewed and surveyed appraisers, lenders, and Tribally Designated Housing Entities (TDHES) to help determine the composition, size, value, and growth for valuation services on reservations within South Dakota.
