NAIHC 50th Annual Convention & Tradeshow
In June 2024, Big Water attended the NAIHC Annual Convention and Tradeshow in Hollywood, Florida!
(From right): Cris, Kevin and Harrison at the Big Water booth
Big Water feels privileged to have been able to join fabulous experts within the tribal housing community for a week filled with insightful conversations, the exchange of ideas, and discussions about the future of housing in Indian Country. Over the course of the four-day conference, Big Water:
Hosted a pre-convention workshop as part of their ongoing Indigenous Economic Development Community of Practice we host with the Economic Development Administration and Urban Institute
Led a breakout session presentation on data collection considerations that go beyond housing needs, and
Occupied a booth on the convention floor to meet and network with convention attendees.
On Wednesday, Big Water staff gave a presentation outlining strategies and best practices tribes can employ as they collect their own community needs data. Too often, tribal departments and programs operate in siloes which impedes the opportunity for stakeholders to have their needs addressed. Leaders and stakeholders that meet together during the development of projects and programs have the chance to conduct non-housing related activities in conjunction with housing development which increases the chance that a community’s needs are holistically and completely considered and addressed.
Click the image to view presentation slides
For example, workforce housing is the most effective when it is, at a minimum, adequately connected to transportation routes and household utilities. Furthermore, the housing is best utilized when it is surrounded by recreational and healthcare facilities that supplement the day-to-day lives of the workforce. Further still, subdivisions which are co-located with educational institutions create fertile opportunities for younger community members to easily get to and from school. The data collected from a community should thus be equally comprehensive and cross-sectoral in order to inform planning and decision making that go beyond immediate individual or household level housing needs.
The presentation serves as an extension of the conversation Big Water had with convention participants on Monday when they hosted a pre-convention workshop as part of our ongoing Indigenous Economic Development Community of Practice in partnership with the Economic Development Administration and Urban Institute.
From Tuesday to Thursday, Big Water staff networked with fellow housing professionals and partners while highlighting our past and present data collection efforts including our needs assessments, asset mapping to support spatial analysis & statistics, and strategic & comprehensive planning.
BOOTH MATERIALS
