Thursday, June 23 NCN Webinar:
The Native American Rural Homeownership Improvement Act: Enhancing the USDA Section 502 Home Loan Program
Native CDFI leaders, staff, and key stakeholders are invited to participate in this important webinar this Thursday, June 23 at 2:00 p.m. EDT to learn more about the Native American Rural Homeownership Improvement Act of 2021 (S. 2092) and how it will strengthen the USDA Section 502 Home Loan Program, which is an important tool available to Native CDFIs in cultivating homeownership across Indian Country. Congressional staff representing bill co-sponsors U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (SD) and U.S. Senator Tina Smith (MN) will present an overview of the bill and engage in a dialogue with attendees about how to get the legislation across the finish line.
NCN “Difference Makers” Interview Series:
Skya Ducheneaux and Stephen Highers
Last week, the Native CDFI Network released its latest edition of “Native CDFIs: Difference Makers for Indian Country,” an interview with Skya Ducheneaux, Executive Director of Akiptan, Inc. A federally certified Native CDFI based in Eagle Butte, South Dakota on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, Akiptan serves and supports Native agricultural producers nationwide. To read the interview, please click here.
Coming this Thursday: “Difference Makers” sits down with Stephen Highers, who serves as Director of the Small Business Assistance Center with the Cherokee Nation Economic Development Trust Authority (CNEDTA). A federally certified Native CDFI of the Cherokee Nation, CNEDTA has been serving the Cherokee Nation and its citizens since 1998.
To read the other interviews in NCN’s “Difference Makers” series, please click here.
NCN Attends Housing Tour Sponsored by South Dakota Native Homeowner Coalition
NCN Board Chair and Interim Executive Director Pete Upton, attended the South Dakota Native Homeowner Coalition (SDNHC) Annual Coalition Convening and Tour. The three-day event held June 8-9, 2022, in Flandreau, SD featured discussions of policy tools that support Native homeownership, the practical challenges related to mortgage lending and available housing stock on trust lands and a physical tour highlighting the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe’s homeownership efforts.
NCN connected with Tawney Brunsch, SDNHC Board Member and Mellor Willie, NeighborWorks America.
“The work that the SDNHOC has done in South Dakota is inspirational and the story needs to be told of the success they are having. To have that many people in one room, focusing on one outcome, was powerful,” said Pete Upton, NCN Interim Executive Director and Board Chair.