Oregon launches $10M tribal housing fund with upfront, noncompetitive grants

Oregon has launched a $10 million housing fund dedicated to its nine federally recognized tribes, creating a rare state-level financing tool designed to bypass administrative barriers that have limited tribal access to public housing dollars.

The Tribal Housing Grant Fund, launched this month by Oregon Housing and Community Services, allocates $10 million. The program is designed to support a wide range of housing activities, from homelessness response to land acquisition and new construction, with upfront funding and limited reporting requirements. 

Rudy Soto, executive director of the National American Indian Housing Council, said the program stands out because state‑tribal collaboration on housing remains rare compared to federal involvement.

“This is a major breakthrough,” Soto said. “There are pockets throughout the country where we see some headway and progress happening on tribal housing development, some places where it’s been happening for a long time, but it’s few and far between.”

Gov. Tina Kotek called the initiative “a meaningful step forward in honoring our government‑to‑government relationship and ensuring tribes have the resources and flexibility they need to address their critical housing needs,” according to a press release from Oregon Housing and Community Services. 

Soto said the program comes as tribes face uncertainty around federal housing programs, elevating the importance of state participation, especially in rural areas where tribes are major economic drivers and housing shortages can limit growth.

“It’s really great to see states stepping up,” Soto said. “Tribes are so important culturally, historically, and tribes are major economic contributors throughout different states where they exist, especially in rural communities.”

Noncompetitive design addresses long-standing access barriers

The program’s structure is a key part of its appeal, according to both Soto and tribal housing directors. Unlike many state or federal grants, the Tribal Housing Grant Fund is non‑competitive. Each tribe receives a base allocation of $400,000, with additional funding tied to enrollment numbers. Funds are provided up front rather than on a reimbursement basis, and reporting requirements are limited.

Sami Jo Difuntorum, executive director of the Siletz Tribal Housing Department, said the new program solves problems that have kept Oregon tribes from using state housing dollars in the past.

“Prior to this, we would apply for any number of state funded grants that each had different reporting platforms, different things you could do with it, and it really put us in a cookie cutter type mode,” Difuntorum said. “One size fits all, and that is not really how tribes are.”

Difuntorum said the mismatch between state grant structures and tribal housing systems meant tribes often chose not to apply, even when set‑asides were available.

“It wasn’t necessarily how our housing programs were structured,” she said. “Looking at the state system, which is very bureaucratic in nature, it’s not user friendly to us.”

The program allows tribes to use funds for a wide range of activities, including land acquisition, infrastructure, rehabilitation, homeless shelters, and new development. 

That flexibility is significant in rural areas, where tribes often must reacquire land and build basic infrastructure before constructing housing.

“When you’re developing in a rural area, a lot of times tribes are having to buy back land,” she said. “It’s often without infrastructure, so you’re having to connect water, sewer, electricity. There’s a whole host of things that this solves.”

The fund also allows tribes to charge their full negotiated indirect cost rate, a provision tribal housing officials say is uncommon in state programs.

Difuntorum also noted that the program allows tribes to charge their full negotiated indirect cost rate, something she said is “not common in state programs.”

The program’s design grew out of more than a year of consultation between the state and tribal representatives, according to the press release. Oregon Housing and Community Services Executive Director Andrea Bell said the goal was to build a structure that respects tribal sovereignty and supports local decision‑making.

“The values, culture, and housing needs of communities are best understood locally,” Bell said in the release. “The Tribal Housing Grant Fund emphasizes self‑determination and flexibility in how tribes use state resources to address local needs.”

The fund also responds to disparities in homelessness data. Difuntorum said tribal citizens were represented at four times the rate of other groups in statewide figures reviewed during a state homelessness task force.

“When we looked at the statistical data, tribal people were four times higher than any other group they counted,” she said. “And when we were looking at the state grants, tribes weren’t applying because it was an odd framework for us.”

Soto said the program could serve as a template for other states with federally recognized tribes.

Difuntorum agrees.

“Yes, I do absolutely think that this is replicable within other states,” she said. “That’s the hope — that this is duplicated in other places.”