Smoke Signals
April 5, 1995
Page 6
Housing
Housing survey delivers impact
continued from page 5
Housing Development Orga
nization. 5. Implement a Housing
Advisory Board.
6. Reorganize current
Home Improvement Pro
gram. One of the themes that was
consistent through all of the
tribal input in the Strategic
Planning process was that
development should proceed
with caution. The develop
ment of the 20-year housing
plan will allow the Tribe to
carefully consider the goals,
objectives, and priorities of
its housing program.
Further, these strategies and
actions imply that the depth
of analysis and discussion
goes beyond the core strategy
of providing better housing;
it should integrate housing
programs with other social
services offered by the Tribe.
A strong link should be made
between economic, social
service, and housing pro
grams. The Tribe must consider
the impact of tribal economic
enterprises in the develop
ment of the 20-year plan. The
Committee logo con
test will pay $50
The Fish & Wildlife Commit
tee and the Timber Committee
are looking for a Natural Re
sources logo. We are looking
for one logo that will represent
both committees.
The committee will pay $50
to the winner. Please submit
your entry to Karen Larsen at
the Tribal Forestry office or
mail it to P.O. Box 70,
Willamina, Oregon 97396. The
deadline for the contest will be
May 31, 1995.
Spirit Mountain Gaming
Center will create hundreds
of jobs; some of those jobs
will go to tribal members.
Employees will need hous
ing. The existing housing
stock in Grand Ronde is in
adequate to accommodate the
number of jobs generated by
the gaming facility.
The Tribe must consider
fairness in the establishment
of priorities. When we dis
cuss "fairness" it is not nec
essarily in the context of an
equal distribution of re
sources. Fairness should be
in the context of the overall
goals and objectives of the
housing program. Equity can
be thought of in geographic
and demographic terms.
The Tribe needs to estab
lish clear and objective stan
dards for program eligibility.
These standards need to be
applied consistently for all
program applicants.
The Tribe should consider
developing programs that ad
dress housing needs of tribal
members residing in (1) the
Grand Ronde area, (2) the
six-county service area, and
(3) all other geographic areas.
Summer approaches: Craft
.The next craft class will be
held April 18th at the Tribal
Community Center. It will be
gin at 7 p.m.
Please be prompt and expect
to stay until the class is finished.
If you have special feathers
for the fans we will be making,
please bring them along with a
12" X 12" piece of cardboard.
During the class, participants
are welcome to work on their
Many survey respondents in
dicated this was a concern.
The Tribe should incorpo
rate opportunities for tribal
member input and involve
ment in the development of
the 20-year plan.
The Tribe should consider
programs that address all of
the housing needs identified
in this report. The timing and
priority of addressing specific
needs should be clearly iden
tified in the 20-year plan.
The Tribe should complete
a more detailed analysis of
the link between the gaming
facility and other economic
enterprises and housing. The
goal should be to develop a
detailed forecast of demand
that will allow the Tribe to de
termine, with reasonable cer
tainty, the number of units
needed and when those units
are needed.
The Tribe should explore
the possibility of working
with private developers to
provide housing for gaming
center employees in nearby
communities such as
Willamina and Sheridan.
The Tribe should consider
programs that provide
regalia, fans, beadwork, or other
craft items.
All tribal members all wel
come, but please register in or
der to insure that there are
enough suppl ies for everyone to
participate.
Please call Camille at 879
2901 to register by April 15.
Please remember children
under 14 must be accompanied
by an adult.
to tribal households
homeownership opportuni
ties for households in situa
tions where they are earning
enough to afford a house, but
are unable to afford a down
payment because of debts or
other reasons. We estimate
that up to 1 0 percent of tribal
households may fall in this
category.
The Tribe should consider
a program that would provide
low-interest loans or grants to
tribal members for home im
provements. Over 44 percent
of homeowners indicated
they would consider using
such a program.
The Tribe should consider
rental assistance programs
that address the significant
financial needs of tribal mem
bers. Depending on the mea
sure, between 25 and 60 per
cent of renters have financial
need. Although these are
probably the most difficult
programs to implement suc
cessfully, the number of tribal
members with financial needs
warrants their consideration.
Like all plans, the Tribe
should consider the 20-year
housing plan as a dynamic
document. Conditions
Class going strong this year
IFF"
7 "
Craft class participants work
Pow-wow.
change over time. Plans need
to recognize this change ex
ists and build in mechanisms
to accommodate changing
needs and priorities. Thus,
we recommend the plan and
needs assessment be revisited
periodically. This issue will
be partially addressed by the
development of the annual
work program.
Conclusion
The Tribal Housing Needs
Assessment marks an impor
tant first step in developing
comprehensive tribal hous
ing. The data contained in
this report provides the
baseline data necessary to
initate discussions concern
ing the difficult policy issue
of how to best allocate lim
ited funding, staff, and other
resources for housing.
Finally, the Tribe should
also develop mechanisms to
evaluate the effectiveness of
its housing programs. These
monitoring programs should
be based on each program's
objectives and should qualify
successes to the degree possible.
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on projects for this year's