HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge convened the first-ever Tribal Intergovernmental Advisory Committee (TIAC) meeting on April 12 and 13 in Washington, D.C. TIAC members include elected Tribal officials and Tribal employees representing Native nations from across the U.S. The current list of TIAC members can be found here. NLIHC’s first Tribal partner, the United Native American Housing Association (UNAHA), was represented at the meeting by Jordan Rahn, Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council Representative of the Antelope Community. The meeting focused on nation-to-nation relationships with Tribal governments, Tribal sovereignty, housing needs and challenges in Indian country, and funding for Tribal housing and community development programs.
Tribal leaders met with Secretary Fudge and other HUD program leaders, including Adrianne Todman, deputy secretary of HUD; Dominique Blom, general deputy assistant secretary for public and Indian housing; Julia Gordon, FHA commissioner; Sam Valverde, executive vice president of Ginnie Mae; Jenn Jones, HUD chief of staff; Marion McFadden, principal deputy assistant secretary for community planning and development; and Solomon Greene, principal deputy assistant secretary for policy development and research. Heidi Frechette, deputy assistant secretary for Native American programs, moderated the meeting.
The Committee named Jacqueline Pata, first vice president of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, as co-chair. “I am pleased to join Tribal leaders from across the country for HUD’s first ever Tribal Intergovernmental Advisory Committee meeting to discuss critical issues that impact so many Tribal members and communities,” said Jacqueline. “We focused on key areas as tribes and reinterpreted the purpose of self-determination in Tribal housing programs across Indian Country coupled with the needs and challenges of a budget that does not reflect those needs. We appreciate Secretary Fudge, Deputy Secretary Todman, and HUD’s efforts to build engaging relationships while discussing our issues with policymakers.”
In a press statement, Secretary Fudge stated that “[i]t is important that Tribes help shape the policies and rules that impact their members and communities. HUD is fully committed to not just championing solutions on the federal level but supporting our Tribal leaders as they pursue their own efforts.”
Read HUD’s press release on the meeting at: https://bit.ly/3A05mTq
View the members of TIAC at: https://bit.ly/3L0sCa3