HUD AWARDS $1,800,000 TO 2 NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES IN MONTANA FOR HOUSING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

WASHINGTON - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan and HUD Rocky Mountain Regional Administrator Rick M. Garcia today announced $1,800,000 in funding to 2 Native American tribes in Montana to improve or create housing and economic development opportunities for low- to moderate-income families.

The competitive grants, provided through HUD's Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) Program, will be awarded in Montana in this way:

Today's awards are part of the $53.6 million in ICDBG funds HUD will award competitively across the United States in 2013.

"These funds help Native American communities create sustainable and community-driven solutions to the challenges they face," said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. "They are investments in the future that improve, preserve and expand the supply of decent, affordable housing, as well as expand economic opportunities for some of the most vulnerable fellow citizens."

"Native villages and tribal organizations are using these funds to meet their most pressing housing and community development priorities," said HUD Regional Administrator Rick M. Garcia.

The ICDBG program was established in 1977 to help Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages to meet their community development needs. Federally recognized Indian tribes, bands, groups or nations (including Alaska Indian, Aleuts and Eskimos,) or Alaska Native villages compete for this funding. The recipients use the funding to develop viable communities, including rehabilitating housing or building new housing or to buy land to support new housing construction.

ICDBG funding can also be used to build infrastructure such as roads, water and sewer facilities, and to create suitable living environments. To spur economic development, recipients have used the grants to establish a wide variety of commercial, industrial and agricultural projects. The grants have been used to build community and health centers, or to start businesses to support the community, such as shopping centers, manufacturing plants, restaurants or convenience stores/gas stations.

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HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes: utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and transform the way HUD does business. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov. You can also follow HUD on twitter @HUDnews, on facebook at www.facebook.com/HUD, or sign up for news alerts on HUD's News Listserv.