As the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic fallout from the crisis gripped our country, we not only doubled, but quadrupled our efforts.
In 2022, the Council approved our $120 million HJSCA extension, with a full $60 million of that funding going toward new housing construction. This effort was on top of other housing initiatives, including upgrading and expanding low-income rental housing, temporarily expanding emergency rental assistance, special services for fluent Cherokee speakers, and a host of other measures.
Now we are seeing the fruits of that investment. HJSCA, the largest housing investment in Cherokee history, has resulted in hundreds of new homes in some stage of construction, both new home additions and individual lots, as well as hundreds of home renovation projects.
HJSCA says we refuse to rely solely on federal housing dollars to address the needs of the Cherokee people. HJSCA says we must use our own resources and develop our own policies to address the problem. HJSCA has been a success by any measure.
But we have to admit that it hasn’t gone far enough and we have to do something about it.
Too many families still struggle with safe, affordable housing. Economic pressures and a lack of adequate decent housing lead to crippling monthly rent payments. Too many of our dear seniors live in homes you wouldn’t want your grandparents living in. Too many of our citizens are on the verge of homelessness or unable to invest in their future because they struggle to pay the rent.
As a Chief, I am proud that we have made historic strides in improving housing conditions, and under the Hoskin/Warner administration, we have appropriated more money for that purpose than in any other five-year period in Cherokee history.
But I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t admit that more action is needed.
Deputy Chief Warner and I have called on the Housing Authority of the Cherokee Nation to conduct our first comprehensive housing needs study. Led by my senior advisor and Executive Director of Housing Programs Todd Enlow, the study will be revealing and, I predict, shocking.
The study will analyze demographics, current housing stock, and pathways to housing that make the most sense for our citizens. Our assessment will consider other quality of life factors that impact community life, such as broadband connectivity. The study will help us prioritize the right mix of new construction, mortgage assistance, rental housing construction, and rental assistance.
We must all brace ourselves for what I predict from the research: hundreds of millions of dollars in immediate need to address the massive shortage of affordable housing.
That should come as no surprise. The country, the region, and the state of Oklahoma are all in some degree of housing crisis.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the number of homeless people in the United States increased by 25% between 2021 and 2022. And even as the pandemic subsided, there was another 12% increase between 2022 and 2023.
According to Moody’s Analytics, the United States has a housing shortage of 1.5 million units.
Closer to home, the Oklahoma Policy Institute reports that Oklahoma is short 77,000 rental units. The city of Tulsa recently conducted a housing need analysis and found a shortage of nearly 13,000 units.
Against this backdrop, and based on what citizens of the Cherokee Nation share with me on a daily basis, I know that the housing situation on our reservation is alarming.
But the housing crisis need not plague us forever. After all, we are Cherokee. We face our challenges with courage. We lean in together, with solutions. Other governments and the private sector must do their part, but we have never been a people content to let others solve our problems; Cherokees were meant to lead.
After the housing study is released, the deputy chief and I will propose new housing policies that build on the success of HJSCA. I predict it will take a historic commitment of our funds — not dependent on insufficient federal dollars — to close huge gaps in rental housing, new construction, infrastructure, and the construction workforce.
Ultimately, we must decide whether the Cherokee Nation can play a role in solving the housing crisis. And if we decide that it can, we must be open and honest about what it will take to meet this challenge.
Chuck Hoskin, Jr. is the paramount leader of the Cherokee nation.
