Former HUD Secretary and 2020 presidential candidate Julián Castro issued a blueprint of proposals to support Indigenous communities that includes provisions to address affordable housing. In announcing his plan, Secretary Castro spoke about his experience visiting the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and the affordable housing challenges facing the indigenous people there.
Secretary Castro’s People First Indigenous Communities plan is designed to strengthen tribal sovereignty, honor treaty commitments, ensure justice for Indigenous women, and advance tribal-federal partnerships. The plan includes:
- Ending tribal veteran homelessness by codifying housing protections for Native American veterans through a national investment of $5 billion a year to combat homelessness.
- Investing an additional $2.5 billion over 10 years to ensure the full funding of the Indian Housing Block Grant program, the Indian Community Development Block Grant program, and the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant program.
- Streamlining processes to access funds and reassess funding formulas under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act of 1996 that determine grant sizes to ensure they are consistent with community needs.
For more information about Secretary Castro’s housing proposals, visit Our Homes, Our Votes: 2020 where NLIHC is tracking all the presidential candidates’ comments and proposals related to affordable housing