$2 million HUD grant to assist Comanche home rehabilitation efforts

Thanks to a recent grant, the Comanche Nation Housing Authority will be able to rehabilitate more tribal homes, a trend over a decade in the making.

Comanche Nation Housing Authority has received a $2 million U.S. Housing and Urban Development ( HUD) Grant to rehabilitate up to 22 tribal homes throughout the community for an 11th year, said Carlee Gettman, CNHA spokesperson.

“The program has allowed CNHA to complete nearly an additional 1,000 projects since 2011,” she said.

The CNHA is a a Comanche Nation-affiliated organization promoting independence by providing affordable, safe and decent housing to low-income tribal members.

Nora Sovo, deputy director of CNHA, said continuous housing rehabilitation is essential to ensure tribal members have safe and sustainable places to live.

“The importance of the grant goes beyond repairing homes,” she said in a statement. “It allows residents to remain in their ancestral homes and communities, which their families have contributed to building over many generations.”

Comanche Nation Housing Authority received the grant as part of the Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) program, which will service 38 tribal communities in this award cycle. As the ICDBG grant explicitly allows a focus on home repairs, CNHA plans to complete interior and exterior repairs in at least 22 homes over a five-year period, Sovo said.

“Once the grant is completed, we will have invested a total of $2.36 million into our residents,” she said in a statement. “Our goal is to make critical and meaningful changes throughout our community that our tribal members can take pride in calling home.”

“Thanks to the competitive ICDBG program we have been able to complete an additional 938 projects since 2011,” she said.

Comanche Nation members residing within CNHA’s service areas who meet the income and other federal program requirements are eligible to receive relief.

CNHA will give priority to homes in dire need of repair, based on living conditions and other criteria, including maximum expenditure limits. All rehabilitation work is to be completed within the five-year duration of the grant, according to a press release.

Comanche Nation Housing Authority serves five counties in Southwest Oklahoma, including Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Kiowa and Tillman, for their federal grant programs.

To learn more about the ICDBG Home Rehabilitation Program or to apply, call 580-357-4956 or visit www.comanchehousing.com.