White Mountain Apache Tribe receives $3 million in COVID-19 aid

The White Mountain Apache Tribe has been awarded federal COVID-19 aid to build transitional housing for members affected by the new coronavirus, according to officials.

The tribe’s housing authority was awarded $3 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development last week, according to a news release from the department. The funding will be used to construct eight transitional housing units for COVID-19 patients and their families.

The White Mountain Apache Tribe had 1,880 identified COVID-19 cases and 25 confirmed deaths as of Sunday. The tribe at one point surpassed the infection rate of the Navajo Nation, which was among the hardest-hit communities by the pandemic in the country. However, officials announced on Monday their day-to-day cases were steadying and possibly decreasing.

Citing the rapid spread of COVID-19, the White Mountain Apache Tribe on June 1 applied for funding to address the lack of transitional housing for members contracting the virus with no place to isolate, according to a news release from the tribe’s housing authority. A month later, the tribe was told they’d be given funding, the news release said.

Four of the eight planned units would be constructed in McNary with the remainder in Cibecue in the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, according to the news release. The units would consist of three bedrooms and a 6-foot chain link fence and would be built on raw land close to existing infrastructure, the news release said.

The project was originally scheduled between July 2020 to June 2021, however, would be revised based on closures implemented by the tribe, according to the news release.

“Once the threat of COVID-19 has passed, the homes will be used for temporary housing for low-income tribal members who are homeless, or who are otherwise in transition while their homes need substantial repairs,” the news release said.

The $3 million was provided to the tribe through a HUD grant program aimed at addressing issues that pose an imminent threat to tribal residents’ public health or safety, a news release from the department said. The grant program received the funds through the CARES Act, according to the news release.

More than $15 million in initial funding was awarded last week to several tribes across the country, with the largest amount given to the White Mountain Apache Tribe. In total, $100 million in funding from the grant program would be awarded to tribes across the country for COVID-19 response, the news release said.