HUD AWARDS $12.4 MILLION TO 18 TRIBES NATIONWIDE TO ADDRESS MOLD IN NATIVE AMERICAN AND ALASKA NATIVE COMMUNITIES

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today it has awarded $12.4 million to 18 tribal communities in 13 states to remove and prevent dangerous mold in more than 1,000 homes. This is the largest amount to date awarded by HUD for this purpose. The grants are being made available through HUD's Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) program, which addresses a wide variety of community development and affordable housing activities.

These grants will support mold remediation in housing owned or operated by tribes, tribally designated housing entities, or tribal organizations, with priority given to units with the most evidence of mold. (See chart below for list of winners.)

"Every family in America deserves a safe and healthy place to call home," said HUD Secretary Julián Castro. "These mold remediation grants demonstrate HUD's commitment to partnering with Native American communities to improve tribal housing and create healthy communities where families can thrive."

All the grantees will address moisture issues by using construction materials and techniques known to resist mold, and ensuring that staff or contractors use safe practices for identifying and remediating mold. They will also educate residents on ways to prevent mold from reoccurring in the future.

For example, the Blackfeet Tribe in Montana will address mold problems in 16 homes with wooden construction, by building and sealing new concrete foundations in the homes, installing exterior drain systems and installing sump pumps. The White Earth Housing Authority in Minnesota will use its grant to repair 21 homes that were originally constructed without proper ventilation. It will also work with Indian Health Services and the tribe's own Natural Resources Department to prevent future mold problems. And the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe in Alaska will use its grant to assess and remediate mold in 20 units with priority given to elders, households with children, and tribal members with asthma. Many of the homes in this region were not designed for the damp, southeast Alaska climate but were prefabricated out of state.

The grant funding was first made available in Fiscal Year 2014 through a set-aside to remediate and prevent mold in housing units owned or operated by tribes and Tribally Designated Housing Entities. Last year, nine tribes received grants to remove unhealthy levels of mold, including the Havasupai Tribe in Arizona where mold is a common problem partly because of frequent flooding in low-lying areas of the Grand Canyon.

Established in 1977, HUD's ICDBG program assists 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,) Alaska Native villages, and eligible tribal organizations compete for this funding. A second more general round of ICDBG funding will be announced later this year.

HUD administers six programs that are specifically targeted to American Indian, Alaska Native, or native Hawaiian individuals and families, and federally recognized tribal governments. In Fiscal Year 2015 HUD received approximately $732 million to fund programs to support housing and development initiatives in American Indian, Alaska Native, and native Hawaiian communities. Through innovative programming, American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments have created sustainable and community-driven solutions to their housing and community development challenges.

The winners of grants to address mold today are:

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HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and http://espanol.hud.gov.

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