HUD awards Coeur d'Alene Tribe $2 million housing grant

The Coeur d'Alene Tribe has received a $2 million federal stimulus grant to build 10 homes at the site of the old tribal headquarters on the southwest outskirts of Plummer.

The planned homes are to be for low-to moderate-income families and are expected to be constructed next year.

The Coeur d'Alene Tribal Housing Authority and the University of Idaho Bioregional Planning Program, which supports sustainable community development, designed the project, to be called The Gathering Place.

The first phase should be completed by the fall of 2010, and the tribe is seeking additional funds to build a second phase of 10 homes. About 70 families are on the tribe's waiting list for affordable housing.

HUD awarded 50 grants totaling $100 million to American Indian tribes across the country. The grants are intended to help tribes improve the quality of their housing stock, develop viable communities, promote energy efficiency, and create jobs, says HUD secretary Shaun Donovan.