Michigan tribes awarded $4.5 million in COVID-19 funding from HUD

Michigan tribes awarded $4.5 million in COVID-19 funding from HUD

Michigan’s 12 federally recognized Native American tribes have been awarded $4.5 million in block grants for affordable housing activities to protect the health and safety of their tribal citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The funds, issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), are part of $200 million in Indian Housing Block Grants included in the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Under the funding, tribes can use the grants for housing development, maintenance, modernization and housing-related services for tribal members. The amount of each grant is based on a HUD formula that considers local needs and housing units under management by the tribe or its tribally designated housing entity. 

Michigan’s largest tribe, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, received $1.6 million of funding from HUD, followed by the Dowagiac-based Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, which received $652,952. 

West Michigan tribes also received funding, including the Manistee-based Little River Band of Ottawa Indians ($91,607); the Fulton-based Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi ($130,894); and the Dorr-based Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, known as the Gun Lake Tribe ($58,700). 

Other northern Michigan and Upper Peninsula tribes that received funding include the Baraga-based Keweenaw Bay Indian Community ($595,908); the Peshawbestown-based Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa ($389,890); the Brimley-based Bay Mills Indian Community ($240,727), the Harbor Springs-based Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians ($190,191); the Watersmeet-based Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians ($81,018); and the Wilson-based Hannahville Indian Community ($61,249). 

The remainder of the funding went to the Mt. Pleasant-based Saginaw Chippewa Indians Tribe ($484,754). 

The CARES block grants for the tribes supplements an earlier round of Indian Housing Block Grants issued by HUD in February, as MiBiz previously reported.   

“HUD remains committed to providing Tribes with the tools they need during this national emergency to continue to create safe, affordable housing opportunities for their communities,” HUD Secretary Ben Carson said in a statement.