Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the community of Grand Portage will see the construction of several new housing units. Gale Carlson, executive director of the Grand Portage Housing Authority, said she heard the good news at the regional meeting of the Great Lakes Indian Housing Association at Ho Chunk, Wisconsin. “The Great Lakes region did really well,” said Carlson. “We received 25% of all the money earmarked for the United States.”
Grand Portage submitted a grant application for the maximum for which it was eligible—$2 million, which was granted. Also receiving $2 million was Boise Forte and the Lower Sioux Nation. Fond du Lac received $2.6 million and White Earth and Leech Lake each received $3 million. Carlson said grant writer and tribal planner David Danze assisted with the grant application. She said the amounts were awarded by a complicated formula, which factors in area, population, and project planning.
Carlson said the grant money will enable the Grand Portage Housing Authority to obtain 14 housing units, a mix of new construction and purchase of existing homes. Tentative plans, submitted with the grant application call for construction of six duplexes. “I had a ‘mini-plan’ to demonstrate what we would do with the funding,” said Carlson in a phone interview this week. “Now the work begins. We have to find lots, complete environmental review, and get bids ready.”
The Recovery Act grant money is to be “fast-tracked. ” Carlson said bids must be in place, or “obligated” within six months and funding must be spent within three years.
Carlson said this is especially good news for community members on the waiting list for housing. She said there are 16 people on the authority’s housing list and five on a list for apartments. “This grant gets us closer to meeting our housing needs,” said Carlson.
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