Smoke Signals 5
JUNE 15, 2005
Second Housing Survey Sets Stage For New Development
Tribal members looked at "homeland" issues while most newer Tribal members failed to respond.
By Ron Karten
Five years ago, Portland-based
Western Economic Services con
ducted the first survey of Tribal
housing needs in Grand Ronde. It
came before the Tribal Housing Au
thority had built Elder housing or
the community housing project now
going up. It made a case for these
Tribal housing projects here in
Grand Ronde.
The latest survey makes a case for
more affordable housing for Tribal
members and affirms the current
Tribal plan to build market-rate
housing in Grand Ronde. The need
for recreational development also
surfaced through the survey.
A number of questions still need to
be answered, however. Those who
responded to the study, for example,
were ovemhelmingly from the mem
bership group that helped establish
the Tribe and fought for Restoration.
More than 75 percent of the responses
came from Tribal members enrolled
before 1994 with another 11 percent
from members enrolled
between 1994-96.
"It's hard for me to
understand what the
newer members want
if they don't respond
to the survey," said
Carina Kistler
Ginter, Director of
the Tribal Housing
Authority.
In addition, accord
ing to the survey, a
larger number of
young Tribal mem
bers see the need for
more Elder housing
than Elders who see
the need. Although
the study did not seek
reasons for this dis
parity, Robert M.
Gaudin, Director of
Research and Plan
ning for Western Eco
nomic Services, said
that the numbers
might indicate that
more Tribal members
believed in the idea of Tribally
funded Elder housing than saw an
actual need.
The study showed overwhelm
ing support for the Tribe to con
tinue helping Tribal members
with their housing needs (87 per
cent), but a little less support for
the Tribe's effort to re-establish a
homeland here in Grand Ronde
At the same time, Tribal mem
bers uniformly favored meeting
Tribal member housing needs out
side of Grand Ronde. For those re
sponding from the six-county area,
to
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(69 percent vs 91 percent five
years ago).
With one-third of the respondents
indicating that they didn't know
what to say about the Tribe's effort
to establish a homeland, the result
points to "a lot of confusion or un
certainty," said Gaudin.
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Robert M.
Planning
Gaudin, Director of Research &
for Western Economic Services
The results were almost identical
for a follow-up question about
whether the Tribe should continue
building new housing as part of the
effort to establish a homeland.
57percent favored housing efforts
beyond the Grand Ronde area. For
those responding from outside of
Grand Ronde, the number jumps
to 73 percent.
With only 45 percent of individu
als responding to the survey com
pared with almost 64 percent five
years ago, it is important to learn
what the lack of response means,
according to Gaudin.
For statistical purposes, the sur
vey assumed the results reflect the
feelings of the entire Tribe while
recognizing that the statistical ex
trapolation may not be accurate.
"Something changed in the per
ception of those responding," said
Gaudin.
Tribal staff and council members
had some observations:
"Hundreds who want housing
here already work here," said Larry
Leith, Rental Housing Coordinator
for the Tribal Housing Authority,
"but there is no housing available."
Others won't move here because
the schools are not seen as ad
equate, said Kistler Ginter.
"There are more (entertainment)
activities in Salem," said Leith. "I
hear that a lot."
Tribal Council member Angie
Blackwell said that decisions
about the future of Grand Ronde
depend on "how do we define
'quality of life'?"
"We're going to grow and keep on
growing," said Kistler Ginter in an
interview after the presentation.
"To get a handle on it, we need to
do strategic planning."
Tribal home owners and renters
expressed a need for housing ser
vices like emergency mortgage as
sistance and assistance with utility
payments among both those living
within and outside of the six-county
area. Unfortunately, these are ar
eas where there is not enough
money to go around.
The survey also revealed, how
ever, that services currently offered
by the Tribe, with money available,
were among those that
homeowners and renters said they
need. It was not clear from the sur
vey, however, whether these re
spondents had already taken ad
vantage of the Tribal services and
still needed more, or whether they
had fallen through the cracks.
Gaudin called this "a disconnect"
between the statistics and the
Tribal reality.
Many drew the conclusion that
from this "disconnect" that the Tribe
needs better outreach efforts to keep
Tribal members informed about
available services and to teach them
how to access those services.
Kistler Ginter said that the Hous
ing Authority frequently advertises
these services in Smoke Signals and
regularly takes a booth at pow-wows
to keep Tribal members informed.
The study found that 62 percent
of Tribal members live in single
family housing and that 78 percent
prefer this type of housing. This is
in line with a national trend, said
Kistler Ginter.
Tribal efforts may be making a
difference in the household in
come of Tribal members, according
to the survey.
Five years ago, more than 30 per
cent of Tribal households had an
nual incomes below $20,000. To
day, it is only 23.2 percent. Five
years ago, 23.5 percent of Tribal
households had annual incomes
over $50,000, and now 31 percent
are in the category. Households
with incomes over $75,000 in
creased from 7 percent five years
ago to nearly 13 percent today.
And in addition, 72 percent of re
spondents liked the idea of "giving
back" to the Tribe in the form of
volunteerism in return for the
Tribe's housing support.
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Jam Session
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received critical raves for
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