Yakama Nation awarded $6.3 million housing grant

WAPATO, Wash. - The Yakama Nation Housing Authority has been awarded a $6.3 million grant by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Yakama Nation Housing Authority Executive Director Jim Berg said a portion of the money will be used to refurbish existing homes and for construction of 68 single-family homes under way at Adams View housing project on Fort Road southwest of Wapato.

The funding is part of $33.4 million being dispersed to 25 tribes in the state, and roughly $404 million nationwide, the federal department announced Wednesday in a news release.

The money is to benefit low-income families living on Indian reservations, and the amounts are based on need and number of housing units managed by tribes, the release said.

The Yakama project at Adams View is a $27 million venture that consists of three- and four-bedroom homes, including sidewalks, street lights and a new water tower that will serve the other 140 existing homes there as well, Berg said.

Some of the grant will be used to help repay debt on a portion of the project that was financed, he said.

"It is very exciting to work with a sum of money that will provide you with the leverage to make some kind of impact in housing for the Yakama Nation," he said. "The Yakama Nation has tremendous housing needs."

Berg said the tribe receives the federal grant every year, but the past few years grant amounts have increased by over $2 million annually because his office is doing a better job of tracking and documenting housing needs.