Unused FEMA trailers headed to reservations nationwide
South Dakota reservations in dire need of housing
By Bill Harlan, Journal staff
June 23, 2007
These Federal Emergency Management Agency mobile homes are staged at an airfield in Hope, Ark. Sen. Tim Johnson’s office announced Friday that American Indian tribes throughout the nation will get 2,000 FEMA trailers, such as these, which are sitting idle. Hope (Ark.) Star
Officials on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations in South Dakota say their communities urgently need mobile homes that could be available under a new federal law.
Sen. Tim Johnson’s office announced Friday that American Indian tribes throughout the nation will get 2,000 so-called “FEMA trailers,” which are sitting idle in Arkansas and Texas.
The trailers are mostly three-bedroom mobile homes, Johnson spokesman Megan Smith said.
Johnson pushed through legislation last year that allows FEMA to distribute the homes to reservations, where housing shortages are often dire.
"I saw pictures of tens of thousands of empty mobile homes sitting unused in Hope, Ark., while South Dakota's Indian tribes were struggling through a tough winter with inadequate housing," Johnson said in a written statement. "There is still much that needs to be done to improve Indian housing, but this is a good step toward addressing this serious problem."
Johnson, who is recovering from a brain hemorrhage, is working from home.
The 2,000 FEMA homes – excess from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina -- would solve a small part of a huge problem. About 90,000 American Indian families are without adequate housing, according to a 2003 study by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
South Dakota tribal officials say reservations here could use all the FEMA homes and more.
“We could easily use 3,000-plus homes right this very minute,” said Joy Bush, executive director of the Oglala Lakota Housing Authority at Pine Ridge.
Bush said the wait for subsidized housing on the reservation can be 15 years or more.
Robert Moore, a councilman of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, said, “We’re in desperate need, of course.” He estimated that Rosebud and Pine Ridge, combined, could use 5,000 new homes.
Moore said he believed the FEMA destined for tribes were 14 feet by 75 feet and “fully furnished.”
However, the homes will have to be winterized for South Dakota’s northern climate. Moore said he hoped the reservation’s new Ojinjinkta Housing Corporation, created to build homes, could also help modify the trailers.
The donated trailers do come with one catch. Tribes will have to pay to transport them from Texas and Arkansas, and local housing groups also will have to pay for infrastructure including lot preparation and utilities.
Smith said HUD grants might be available to help tribes pay additional expenses.
Moore and Bush said the Oglala Sioux Tribe already was working on ways to bring the mobile homes to Pine Ridge. (The Rapid City Journal was unable to contact members of that group.)
The Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council also is supporting efforts to acquire some of the mobile homes, Moore said.
Tribal officials from throughout the country will be able to inspect the homes in Arkansas from July 9 through July 20. Then, tribes can make requests, which will be administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Contact Bill Harlan at 394-8424 or at Bill Harlan
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Special thanks to Steph Schwartz for the lead.
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June 2007 Reports
Last updated on June 28, 2007