SUQUAMISH TRIBE WINS $163,426 HUD GRANT TO IMPROVE HOUSING AND SPUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Funding part of $55 million awarded nationally to Indian Country so far this year

SEATTLE - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today competitively awarded $163,426 in Indian Community Development Block Grant funds to the Suquamish Tribe in Washington state. The Tribe plans to combine the ICDBG grant with funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to develop infrastructure to support the construction of four, affordable houses on its Port Madison Reservation in Kitsap County.

In late March, HUD announced competitive ICDBG awards totaling $1,941,109 to the Jamestown S'Klallam, Port
Gamble S'Klallam and Squaxin Island tribes and the Lummi Nation Housing Authority to promote housing and community. Those awards and today's award were among more than 50 competitive ICDBG grants HUD has awarded to tribes and Alaska native villages totaling some $55 million this year.

"This funding helps our country's Native American and Alaska Native communities improve the living conditions for hard-working families who need the most help," said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. "This is an investment to
promote neighborhood development, produce affordable housing, and help create much-needed jobs."

Established in 1977, HUD's Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) Program supports a wide variety of community development and affordable housing activities. Federally recognized Indian tribes, bands, groups or nations (including Alaska Indian, Aleuts and Eskimos) or Alaska Native villages compete for this funding.

ICDBG recipients will use the funding to develop viable communities, including rehabilitating housing or building new housing or to buy land to support new housing construction. The funding can also used to build infrastructure such
as roads, water and sewer facilities, to create suitable living environments. To spur economic development,
recipients use the grants to establish a wide variety of commercial, industrial and agricultural projects. Recipients have used the funding to build community and health centers, or to start businesses to support the community, such as shopping centers, manufacturing plants, restaurants or convenient 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.