‘Demand is always going to be there’: Affordable housing units planned for Lummi Nation
The Lummi Nation will add 32 units of affordable housing for its community after securing a $7.5 million federal grant for the project.
The project will be built on 13.3 acres of previously undeveloped land off Lummi View Drive that overlooks the water. It’s expected to cost more than $11 million.
The apartments will consist of 3-,4- and 5-bedroom units serving mostly families with children, according to the Lummi Nation Housing Authority Executive Director Diana Phair.
The project is expected to be completed in a few years after permitting, clearing and infrastructure development.
This funding is coming from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as part of the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) Competitive Grant Program. It’s the largest single grant the Lummi Nation Housing Authority has ever received.
The Lummi Nation has built almost 300 housing units with grant funding received over the last decade, Phair told The Bellingham Herald. Still, more than 150 people are on the waiting list to get into low-income rental and homeownership programs through the Lummi Nation Housing Authority. That list is always growing so projects like these are much needed.
“The demand is always going to be there. We’re never going to catch up,” Phair said. “Most of our tribe is young. We have low rates of homeownership and they’re experiencing high rates of poverty, homelessness, overcrowding, substandard living conditions and unemployment,” Phair said in a telephone interview with The Herald. “Because of these dynamics, demand for decent and affordable low- to moderate-income housing remains extremely high.”
The Lummi Nation Housing Authority is anticipating the opening of another affordable apartment complex and a 6-home homeownership project that are both under construction right now and are expected to be complete in 2024.
“Affordable housing is a serious concern for families across Washington state, and this is especially true in Tribal communities—whose members suffer from higher poverty rates and face increased barriers to making ends meet,” said U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, who said in a news release she fights to secure funding for the IHBG Competitive Grant Program every year.
Native Americans on tribal lands face some of the most acute housing needs of any group in the United States, according to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition.
Despite a growing need for homes, federal investments in affordable housing on tribal lands have been underfunded for decades, particularly in rural and remote areas.
“There is nothing more basic and essential than having a safe place to call home, and these grants are going to make a serious difference for Tribal families in Western Washington who need this help the most,” Murray said.
“You can bet I’m going to keep up the fight as Chair of the Appropriations Committee to secure the resources we need to make sure every family, in every community, has access to quality housing they can actually afford.”
This story was originally published September 3, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
