HOULTON, Maine — Five Native American tribal communities in Maine have received more than $2.3 million combined in federal grants that will be used to benefit housing programs in their communities.
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King announced in a joint statement on Tuesday that the Aroostook Band of Micmacs, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, the Penobscot Indian Nation, the Passamaquoddy Tribe of Pleasant Point Reservation, and the Passamaquoddy Tribe of Indian Township would benefit from the funding awarded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Indian Housing Block Grant program.
Both senators said in a written statement that the money provides “important assistance to tribal communities working to maintain and improve affordable housing on their lands.
“This funding will help support projects that provide safe, affordable housing for members of Maine’s tribes,” Collins and King said in the statement.
The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians will receive $264,621, which Housing Authority Director April Reynolds said was part of a yearly allocation that is used by the tribe to run its housing department.
“We customarily receive $561,574, but we did not get it in one lump sum this year,” she said. “So this is giving us the last portion of that. The money is very helpful to us, because it helps us run the entire housing authority. We operate rental homes, pay salaries and maintain the buildings with a portion of it.”
The Penobscot Indian Nation on Indian Island was awarded $404,635. Michael Bush, housing director for the tribe, said that the money also was usually awarded each year and was used to finance repairs to homes and tribal buildings, assist tribal members with closings costs on homes and providing emergency rental assistance.
“We are grateful for it, because it really does go a long way,” he said. “In the future, we are hoping to use a portion of the money to provide operational support for an elderly housing unit.”
Sally Jo Rice, temporary interim director for the Pleasant Point Reservation Housing Department, also said that the tribe would use the $395,950 in federal government funding to sustain housing units.
“We are also putting a new roof on one of our buildings, and we use the money to pay the electric bills and heating bills on our apartments,” she said.
The Aroostook Band of Micmacs in Presque Isle received $268,183, while the Indian Township Passamaquoddy Housing Authority received $969,375. Officials from neither tribe could be reached for comment.
