Housing shortages on Indian reservations force young residents to seek opportunities far from home and discourage financially secure citizens from returning to the reservation. Funding for tribal housing is inadequate to maintain existing housing stock. Convoluted land ownership, financing hurdles and lack of access to utilities discourage commercial development on reservation land. The result is a housing landscape that doesn’t meet the needs and aspirations of current and would-be residents.
“No roads home” launches The Shelter Gap, a three-part series examining barriers to buying, renting and building homes in Indian Country and highlighting the community benefits of secure housing.
