TDN Housing Division

Housing Assistance Offered to Tribal Citizens throughout 2021

In Del Norte County, there are approximately 28,000 residents. Of those 28,000 locals, about 500 of those residents live in Smith River. According to the census, the median household income in Del Norte County is $45,283, with rental costs averaging $878 per month. The housing market in Del Norte County and Smith River specifically has been very competitive. Which is why one of the Nation's primary goals was to diversify housing options and create safe, affordable, and sustainable housing for tribal citizens. Jeri Robertson came to work for the Nation as the housing manager in February of 2021 from the Siskiyou County area. Jeri and her family had been avid visitors and always longed to reside in the Del Norte or Curry County one day. "The move happened sooner than expected, but at the right time," said Jeri, who is thankful to be in such a beautiful area and community. Soon not long after her position began, the tribe was awarded a large amount of funding for rental assistance. The funds came from the US Treasury as COVID relief funds; therefore, there were no geographic requirements for the funding. Any Tolowa citizen household was eligible to apply for the rental assistance. With this funding, the Tolowa Dee-ni Nation Housing Division served 150 tribal households. Resulting in over 1.2 million dollars distributed out as direct rental assistance to tribal families. Jeri shared excitedly, "Over a million dollars helping people pay their rent; that's huge!" The Nation was able to implement its rental assistance program pretty quickly compared to other tribes. Recently we also launched a Mortgage Assistance Program. The first round of funding for that program went out in December to 20 tribal citizen households. The program will continue to run until the $749,000 in funding is exhausted. Other Programs offered are low income housing tribal rentals, emergency assistance, housing rehabilitation, elder minor rehabilitation, and the down payment assistance program. In 2021, the Nation and housing crew were able to complete one major home rehabilitation and four elder minor rehabilitations. The Nation also helped two families who needed isolation housing due to needing to quarantine or because of positive exposures. Jeri is also sitting on the local Continuum of Care Advisory Board with other fellow agencies. This has been a positive move as the Nation is getting involved with and trying to find solutions for people who do not have homes and locating resources for tribal citizens. The 12.9-Million-dollar low-income housing, Dat-naa-svt Village, was completed. This village has been the only low-income housing developed in Del Norte County in the last ten years and the most significant home construction project anywhere in Del Norte County in the past 15 years. The village project infused 8.1 million dollars into the local economy through local sub-contractors and an increase in Tribal Construction Jobs. In addition to those 21 homes in Smith River, the Nation also broke ground on six more townhouse units overlooking the Dat-naa-svt TDN Housing Division Staff Village. The townhouse project is still underway, and people in the area will notice the construction over the next few months. The expected completion date for the townhouses is Spring of 2022. Jeri shared that although she is excited to be at total capacity at Dat-naa-svt Village, there are still over 70 people on the housing waiting list. She shared that some of these individuals and families have been on the list for several years now. Jeri shared "We want to remind tribal members that they need to update their housing records every year. We need to know about changes in income, household size, housing status, and employment status. Including changes of addresses, name changes, if you have been married or divorced and to update contact information like phone numbers, mailing address, and email addresses". The Nation wants to avidly help and assist its citizens in finding safe and livable neighborhoods and communities free of violence. By having the most up to date information on file, we get a better idea on how we can help serve or provide resources to our tribal citizens. The Nation will continue to try and create affordable and sustainable housing and inform tribal citizens of housing options and other housing-related services. The new year is a good time for tribal citizens to update their file with the Nation's Housing Division or any other areas where citizens have applied for assistance. The housing manager and staff continue to provide a list of additional resources available to tribal citizens. Tribal citizens in need should apply for all resources available to them. They should also apply for other housing opportunities throughout Del Norte County in the meantime. In conclusion the Housing Division wants Tribal Citizens to know that inspections that were not happening due to the pandemic will start to resume. During this new year, housing inspections will start recurring again for all tenants living in Tribal housing. For further information, you may contact the Housing Division at 707-487-9255 ext. 1605 or email at jeri.robertson@tolowa.com. The housing application and other forms are also available for download on the Nations website at www.tolowa-nsn.gov.