[ Inquiry ] Red Cliff Housing Needs Assessment
Events Kevin Klingbeil Events Kevin Klingbeil

[ Inquiry ] Red Cliff Housing Needs Assessment

Big Water staff members Harry Maher and Kevin Klingbeil visited the snowy Red Cliff Indian Reservation to launch the Red Cliff Housing Needs Assessment in cooperation with the Red Cliff Housing Authority and representatives from the Tribe’s planning, health, education, public works, communications and other departments. Big Water met with division heads and department directors and the Housing Authority Board to discuss tribal history, current initiatives and future plans, and desired survey content. Betty Kerr from the Housing Authority gave Kevin and Harry a guided tour of the reservation, including a visit to Frog Bay Tribal National Park, Little Sand Bay, land recently purchased from Bayfield County by the tribe, and visits to low income housing tax credit (LIHTC) and supportive housing projects around the reservation.

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[ Inquiry ] Pa’upena CDC Community Needs Assessment
Events Kevin Klingbeil Events Kevin Klingbeil

[ Inquiry ] Pa’upena CDC Community Needs Assessment

During the course of its 2-day consultation session with representatives from Pa’upena CDC and other homestead organizations, staff members Harry Maher and Kevin Klingbeil visited the majestic and remote Kahikinui homestead as well as the more urban Pakupalo and Lahaina homestead areas. Session participants discussed Pa’upena CDC’s recent receipt of its Right of Entry (ROE) for 127 acres of Hawaiian homelands and its authorization to engage in community design that could lead to a subsequent ROE for an additional 5,000 acres as well as an array of historical, legal, regulatory and other issues that have limited the number of native Hawaiians who have received leases to occupy Hawaiian homelands.

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[ Inquiry ] Launch of Assessment of Housing Needs of American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians in Washington State at NWIHA and ATNI Meetings
Events Kevin Klingbeil Events Kevin Klingbeil

[ Inquiry ] Launch of Assessment of Housing Needs of American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians in Washington State at NWIHA and ATNI Meetings

In cooperation with its partner on the project, Akana Big Water presented to the members of the Northwest Indian Housing Association (NWIHA) at the Skagit Casino Resort in Bow, Washington and the Housing Committee of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) in Portland, Oregon to launch the Assessment of the Housing Needs of Native Americans in Washington State funded by the Washington State Department of Commerce’s Community Services and Housing Division.  The final report for this project will in part address state, federal, local and industry investments in rental and homeowner housing for Native Americans and provide policy recommendations to support the development of sufficient and safe housing for Native Americans on and outside of tribal areas and address other systemic barriers that prevent or impede access to safe and sufficient housing by Native Americans.

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[ Inquiry ] White Mountain Apache Housing Needs Assessment Launched
Events Kevin Klingbeil Events Kevin Klingbeil

[ 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.

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[ Inquiry ] "Tohono O’odham Census Challenge Prevents Loss of Millions in Housing Funding"
Events Kevin Klingbeil Events Kevin Klingbeil

[ 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.

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