In a recent letter written by the Native CDFI Network, National American Indian Housing Council, and the Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations, the three Native non-profits ask Congress for a boost in total funding to $50 million in the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 4 program, along with a 10% Native set aside.
“This 10% set-aside could be effectively administered through direct cooperative agreements between HUD and national Native intermediary organizations – such as the National American Indian Housing Council and Native CDFI Network – that support affordable housing and community development entities across Indian Country and possess an intimate knowledge of the distinct challenges facing tribal communities and the proven solutions that need to be scaled to effectively address them.”
The three non-Native non-profit intermediaries that currently receive Section 4 funding are Enterprise Community Partners, the Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC) and Habitat for Humanity. In fiscal 2020, HUD awarded $36 million to the three groups: $14.3 million to Enterprise, $8.1 million to Habitat for Humanity, and $13.6 million for LISC.
Tonya Plummer, Director of Mountain, Tribal Nations and Rural Native American Housing Projects at Enterprise Community Partners, said Enterprise uses the Section 4 program to fund affordable Native housing and community development projects.
“Enterprise is one of three Section 4 grantors the federal government trusts to equitably distribute those dollars,” she said.
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