Wisconsin tribes awarded $20 million in federal funding for affordable housing projects

Wisconsin tribes will receive $20 million in federal funding to build new affordable housing in their communities.

A shortage of affordable housing has put a strain on tribal residents and governments — contributing to homelessness and overcrowding, and forcing residents to look outside their communities for a place to live.

On Monday, four of Wisconsin's tribes were awarded federal grants to support new housing developments, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced :

• The Oneida Nation was awarded $6 million, which will be used to build 16 housing units.
• The Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin received $5.2 million, which will be used to build 11 housing units.
• The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians was awarded $5.8 million, which will be used to build 20 housing units.
• The Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe was awarded $3 million, which will be used to build 12 housing units.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin — who voted to increase federal funding for American Indian and Alaska Native housing — celebrated the news in a statement Monday.

The grants will help tribal nations "build more affordable housing units, lower housing costs, and help more families find safe housing in their communities," Baldwin said in the statement.

The Indian Housing Block Grant program, which supports affordable housing programs in tribal communities, has gotten a major boost in funding in the past couple years , after decades of stagnation.

Overcrowding and substandard physical conditions disproportionately affect Indigenous communities, HUD research has found. About 12% of households in tribal areas have unreliable heat, compared to just 2% of households across the United States, according to a 2017 HUD study.

Baldwin, in a February letter to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, said that affordable housing shortage is contributing to other challenges in tribal communities.

"Last fall, I hosted a roundtable with tribal leaders in Wisconsin to discuss our shared priority of combatting the opioid and fentanyl crisis. It was clear from those conversations that the lack of affordable housing is adding to this tremendous challenge," Baldwin wrote in the letter.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin tribes awarded $20 million in federal funding for affordable housing projects