HUD announces $8 million in grants to four New Mexico pueblos

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced nearly $70 million in federal funding for 38 Native American communities throughout the U.S. on Thursday, with $8 million in Indian Community Development Block grant funding going to four tribes in New Mexico.

“Tribal Communities are investing in themselves through ICDBG, making strides in affordable housing, homeownership, and community development,” HUD Regional Administrator Candace Valenzuela said.

A community wellness center

Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo will use $2 million in HUD funding to build a $14 million community health, outdoor and wellness center, said Ohkay Owingeh Gov. Larry Phillips Jr. The rest of the funding will come from the Pueblo.

The community center should open in 2025 or 2026.

The community’s issues include diabetes, obesity and social isolation for kids over the last few years, according to Phillips. The community center should provide a space where intergenerational teaching can happen, and services will also be available to the surrounding community in Rio Arriba County, Phillips said.

“If anybody’s seen or been in northern New Mexico and Rio Arriba, we really are struggling,” Phillips said.

Building new homes

San Ildefonso Pueblo Gov. Christopher Moquino said the $2 million in HUD funding will go toward building 27 homes. The San Ildefonso Housing Authority is overseeing water infrastructure construction for those homes, using several funding sources such as capital outlay dollars and the American Rescue Plan Act. Federal funding used to go further, but inflation has raised construction costs, Moquino said. Construction costs per square foot will be $175 to $400, he said.

“This is the first groundbreaking we’ve had in 10-plus years for any type of housing, and so this is going to go a long way,” Moquino said. “There’s still a long way to go.”

San Ildefonso has lands in Los Alamos, Santa Fe and Sandoval counties. The income disparity in the area creates challenges, according to Moquino. Federal entities don’t always see the variable income base, Moquino said, because Santa Fe County has so much wealth.

The Pueblo has done its own income survey to prove to federal programs that many in the community have a lower income than the county median, Moquino said. Santa Fe County had a median income of $70,000 from 2018-2022, according to U.S. Census Bureau Quick Facts.

Rehabbing existing houses

“Every dollar is important for me, for my community, because my people are in need of housing,” said San Felipe Pueblo Gov. Anthony Ortiz.

The $2 million from HUD will help the community take care of people who are living in one home with multiple generations, Ortiz said. The money will be used to rehab homes.

Santa Clara Pueblo Housing Authority in Española will use its $2 million to rehabilitate 56 homes for low-income families, said Santa Clara Gov. J. Michael Chavarria. Federal programs should not be a one-size-fits-all approach, Chavarria said.

“Housing is a challenge. (From) 1969 to 1998, HUD was responsible for building 341 homes in Santa Clara. But since then, no new homes have been built,” Chavarria said. “That’s a struggle because it goes back to the congressional formula and how those funds are appropriated to all the tribes throughout the entire nation ... The larger tribes are always getting the lion’s share of these federal funds and yet the smaller tribes are having to fight for the crumbs.”