NATIVE AMERICAN ISSUES
Indian Country’s Housing Crisis is a Public Health Crisis
JUNE 26, 2020  • JOSEPH KUNKEL & ASPEN GLOBAL LEADERSHIP NETWORK
Overcrowding and lack of housing heighten the dangers posed by COVID-19.  
                             
Here in Indian Country, it’s not uncommon to see 18 or more people living in a single 900 square-foot-house—a size that, in what is now known as America, more typically provides shelter for a family of four. For American Indians, homelessness is characterized by overcrowding, not individuals living on the streets. Our indigenous values impel us to care for one another under the same roof, regardless of whether we have ample space. According to a study from the Housing Assistance Council (HAC), approximately 9 percent of native populations live with overcrowding, compared with the national average of 3 percent. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has found that Indian Country faces a deficit of 68,000 housing units per year. The real need is likely triple that.

Insufficient access to capital is one of the underlying causes of these problems. The Indian Housing Block Grant—one of the key programs under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act—has received mostly level funding since its implementation in 1998. Had it kept pace with inflation, the grant program would have already received nearly $1 billion. At current levels, tribal nations’ purchasing power is less than it was 20 years ago. This diminished budget allows for the development of only around 1,000 new units per year—far below the 68,000 HUD has deemed necessary.