Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) announced today that the Sicangu Wicoti Awanyakape, that serves the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, will receive an Indian Housing Block Grant Award of $1,763,152 for activities consistent with the tribes housing plan. This grant will be administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996.
“This funding will be used to develop more safe and affordable homes for members of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe,” said Johnson. “Unfortunately, unsafe and inadequate housing is an all too familiar reality on many of the reservations in our state. A key part of my Hometown Prosperity Plan is investing in the public good, and this funding is a wonderful example of that kind of investment.”
According to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report, “A Quiet Crisis: Federal Funding and Unmet Needs in Indian Country,” approximately 90,000 Native American families are homeless or under-housed. More than 32% of households on American Indian reservations are overcrowded, compared with just 4.9% of all American households.
Senator Johnson’s Hometown Prosperity Plan is a four-pillar agenda for advancing South Dakota’s economy from the federal level. The four pillars, or strategies, include “Promoting Partnerships,” “Emphasizing Entrepreneurship,” “Investing in the Public Good,” and “Protecting Pocketbooks.” The full plan includes specific actions related to each strategy and can be downloaded from http://johnson.senate.gov.
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For more information on Senator Tim Johnson visit his website at http://johnson.senate.gov. To contact Senator Johnson’s communications office via e-mail, write his Communications Director at Julianne_Fisher (at) Johnson.Senate (dot) gov
