In Nome, a tribal housing project over four years in the making is finally coming to fruition. The effort brought together tribes and a host of other organizations to help address the critical housing shortage in the community.
Seven new single family homes sit on lots a stone's throw away from Nome’s regional hospital. The homes were built for members of two tribes, the Village of Solomon and King Island.
Delilah Johnson is the Village of Solomon’s tribal resources director and treasurer. She said the tribes used resources from 2021’s COVID-19 relief fund, the American Rescue Plan Act, for the project.
“And I think both tribes understood the overcrowding during the pandemic, so it was wanting to be addressed,” Johnson said “That funding allowed for, so we were able to purchase these lots at a discounted rate because there was no water, sewer or power.”
A white tent rose from a gravel pad for the Thursday celebration. It brought together several entities involved with making the housing project happen.
Johnson said this project is meant to mitigate a long-standing need for housing for the tribe's members.
“I think, the biggest benefit to allow for our own tribal citizens to become homeowners,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the project cost over $5.1m. She said she was grateful for the contributions from Norton Sound Health Corporation, Nome Joint Utility System, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Johnson said developing a sewage system called a lift station was critical to completing the project. She said funding from Norton Sound Health Corporation helped make the lift station happen — which will now benefit all of the properties in the area, not just the tribe's.
“And so with the lift station now that is serving the entire area. So we're really thankful that Norton Sound stepped in to help with that lift station,” Johnson said.
Nome Joint Utility System finished work on the sewage system late in September. Johnson said the utility’s collaboration was essential and that work is now fully complete.
“Because they're the only utility here, and they are going to be maintaining so and it needs to coincide with the existing grid that they have,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the tribes were looking for funding to develop four more vacant lots the tribe owns. Currently, the tribes hope to build a Village of Solomon Community Center and a game processing facility, which will process subsistence meat. She expects the Community Center to be complete by the end of next year, while the game processing facility could be ready as early as spring 2026.
Johnson said although it was a difficult endeavor, the project was a step in the right direction for securing home ownership for their tribal members, and the community at large.
