![[ Inquiry ] White Mountain Apache Housing Needs Assessment Launched](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5be730232487fdec648106ac/1578002019041-DNBYBVVEYD4LZB6KUSSF/tmp3.png)
[ Inquiry ] White Mountain Apache Housing Needs Assessment Launched
Two weeks ago, we helped train the survey manager and field staff for the White Mountain Apache Housing Needs Assessment project which is being conducted within the boundaries of the Fort Apache Reservation extending north from the Salt River Canyon in the mountains of eastern Arizona. In addition to the training sessions, we held community meetings in the reservation's more remote Cibecue and McNary communities to learn more about their respective living conditions and needs. We also conducted a focus group with reservation residents who are experiencing homelessness or are doubled-up (staying with others with no permanent residence of their own) to identify the nature and sources of their particular issues as well as ways in which the Tribe or its programs could support their efforts to overcome their current challenges and create more stability in their lives. Despite a winter snowstorm that knocked out power to much of the reservation (and allowed us to conduct training without lights for the first time), trainees and community members braved the elements in order to keep the project on schedule.
![[ Inquiry ] "Tohono O’odham Census Challenge Prevents Loss of Millions in Housing Funding"](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5be730232487fdec648106ac/1557872989316-TCZPM1LZ8M0NO2HFAA2P/TO_project_logo.jpg)
[ Inquiry ] "Tohono O’odham Census Challenge Prevents Loss of Millions in Housing Funding"
Big Water is proud to have been part of this historic project in which local tribal field staff mapped and assessed the condition of all housing units within the Nation's lands, gathered vital demographic and needs-based data from a sample of the Nation's households, and ultimately prevented the loss of millions of dollars of critical housing funding over the next five years.
![[ Conference ] Southwest Tribal Housing Alliance Tri-Annual Meeting](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5be730232487fdec648106ac/1551390336190-JV94DBWLAFFMBBNYMT3T/SWTHA_FullLogo2.png)
[ Conference ] Southwest Tribal Housing Alliance Tri-Annual Meeting
As an associate member of SWTHA, Big Water joined member organizations and representatives of other organizations serving Native communities at Isleta Resort & Casino to observe the election of new SWTHA officers and discuss current housing funding issues, pending legislation, and regional initiatives to support tribal housing development and management in the Southwest.