During the congressional recess in August, 20 staff from key congressional and administrative offices participated in a multi-day visit to Alaska to learn first-hand about the unique opportunities and challenges impacting residents of Tribal housing across the state. Attendees heard directly from Tribal leaders and partners from the education, healthcare, and local government sectors about how their work intersects with the need for stable, affordable housing. The trip concluded at the Alaska Housing Summit, which was held in Anchorage on August 29 (see 9/9/ Memo). The Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness (AKCH2), an NLIHC state partner and an Opportunity Starts at Home state campaign partner, led planning for the visit alongside NLIHC members from the Association of Alaska Housing Authorities and Cook Inlet Housing Authority. Advocates hope the experience will increase understanding of Alaska’s unique history and needs in regard to federal housing policy.
Attendees included staff from HUD and from the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Government Accountability Office, Office of Management and Budget, Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and the House and Senate Subcommittees on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and the Subcommittees on Indian and Insular Affairs. Also in attendance were staff from the offices of Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Representative Mary Sattler Peltola (D-AK). Prior to the visit, attendees participated in a virtual orientation focused on Alaska presented by the Alaska Native Heritage Center and the Alaska Federation of Natives.
The visit began in Anchorage with a roundtable discussion at the Cook Inlet Housing Authority with staff and members of the Association of Alaska Housing Authorities. Tribal housing leaders shared about the history of the Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) and subsequent creation of the Alaska Native Corporations, the largest private landowners in Alaska, with title to 44 million acres of land. Throughout the conversation, the importance of Tribal sovereignty and self-determination were underscored, and participants learned how the unique structure of the Alaska Native Corporations frequently presents challenges for the implementation of federal housing programs and funding allocations for the state. Next, attendees visited the Alaska Native Heritage Center to learn more about Alaska’s 11 major Indigenous groups. In the afternoon, the group visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. The first day concluded with a welcome reception and traditional Alaska fish fry hosted by staff at the Cook Inlet Housing Authority.
The next day, the group split in half to visit Tribal housing sites in the Yukon-Kuskokwim and Bering Straits regions. In Bethel, hub city of the Yukon-Kuskokwim region, the group met with the Association of Village Council Presidents Regional Housing Authority, visited a homeless shelter and supportive housing community, and went on a driving tour of housing developments. Meanwhile, 300 miles north in Nome, attendees met with the Bering Straits Regional Housing Authority, participated in a roundtable discussion about services for people experiencing homelessness, and met with City of Nome staff to learn how the Port of Nome’s infrastructure impacts housing development. Both housing authorities discussed the costly and complex logistics, elusive economies of scale, scarce private sector interest and other challenges to building housing in Alaska. Members of the housing authorities explained how the housing authorities make use of Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act (NAHASDA) funds, the primary source of federal funds for addressing Native housing issues in tribal communities. Advocates emphasized that chronic underfunding of the formula-funded Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG), the backbone of NAHASDA, has greatly hindered progress toward addressing Alaska’s need for over 16,100 new housing units, all the while deepening a grave inequity in federal dealings with Native peoples across the U.S.
On the third day, the Bethel group traveled up the Kuskokwim River by skiff to Kwethluk, a Yup’ik community 12 miles east of Bethel, after plans to fly to the further village of St. Mary’s had to be cancelled due to poor weather – a fact of life in rural Alaska. Attendees experienced the remote nature of the village, home to over 800 people, while touring the community, school, Native store, and various housing sites on foot. Meanwhile, the Nome group flew to Shaktoolik, a village of around 230 people that sits on a sand bar on the east shore of the Norton Sound. Attendees toured the community and learned about the effects of erosion, accelerated by climate change, on remote Alaskan communities like Shaktoolik, which has already been relocated twice.
The visit wrapped up with the Alaska Housing Summit in Anchorage, where attendees gained a deeper understanding of the state of housing in Alaska. Several attendees reflected on their visit during a panel discussion, “Federal Support for Tribal Self-Determination to Address Housing, Overcrowding, and Homelessness in Rural Alaska.” The panelists pledged to adjust their outreach methods to better collect input from Alaskans on rural and Native housing programs and suggested that advocates continue inviting federal staff to locations like Alaska to learn about their unique successes and challenges first-hand.
The lead organizers of the visit were pleased to have so many attendees accept their invitation to visit Alaska and hope to continue inviting others to attend in the future. The experience helped them build an even closer relationship with staff from their congressional delegation’s offices, but more importantly they were able to build strong relationships with other administrative agency staff who are key decision-makers for Tribal housing programs. The organizers will continue to meet regularly to coordinate their advocacy at the state and federal levels.
“It’s impossible to understand the logistical hurdles one has to jump to build a home in rural Alaska without witnessing them first-hand,” said Brian Wilson, executive director of the Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness. “We appreciate our visitors’ willingness to travel all this way and their enthusiasm to learn more about our housing climate, the importance of Tribal self-determination, and the powerful partnerships we rely on to address our unique challenges.”
“We appreciate our guests for making the long journey from as far as Washington, D.C., and hope this trip formed lasting memories and relationships that will help illuminate Alaska’s history, context, and housing needs in regard to the federal policy landscape for years to come,” said Griffin Hagle-Forster, executive director of the Association of Alaska Housing Authorities.
NLIHC, in partnership with Native housing leaders and advocates, strongly urges Congress to fully fund Tribal housing programs and to reauthorize NAHASDA, which has not been reauthorized since 2013. To learn more about NLIHC’s efforts to support affordable homes in Native communities, please visit https://nlihc.org/explore-issues/policy-priorities/native-american-housing