The Yakutat Tlingit Tribe has won a competitive CARES Act grant to construct three energy-efficient homes.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Friday that the Tribe will receive $900,000 as part of the Indian Community Development Block Grant Imminent Threat program. Congress allocated an additional $100 million to the program this spring as part of the federal coronavirus relief funding package.
According to a HUD press release, the Tribe’s project will help reduce the spread of COVID-19 by addressing overcrowded households and housing shortages in Yakutat. The small community of around 600 people has had six confirmed cases of the coronavirus, according to the head of Yakutat Incident Command John Waldron.
The Yakutat Tlingit Tribe is one of nineteen tribes, nationwide, to receive support as part of a fifth round of funding. Other Alaska Tribes included in this round are the Native Village of Fort Yukon, Hughes Village, Knik Tribe and the Native Village of Tetlin. Around $23.5 million out of the $100 million in funding allocated for the program has gone to tribes in Alaska. The funding is for projects that address immediate threats to health and safety of tribal citizens during the pandemic. That could include everything from building new apartments to creating quarantine space to fixing community water lines.
The Angoon Community Association and the Organized Village Kake have also been awarded funding as part of the program.
Erin McKinstry is a Report for America corps member.
