Tester Secures Resources to Improve Affordable Housing for Fort Peck Families

Senator Announces Critical Funding After Meeting with Housing Secretary in Indian Country

(U.S. Senate) – Senator Jon Tester has secured a million dollars for the Fort Peck Housing Authority (FPHA) to help rehabilitate dozens of low-income, affordable housing units across the reservation.

This funding comes just weeks after Tester met with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson in Indian Country.

“Housing is critical to every community,” said Tester, a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. “Access to safe housing provides families with the foundation they need to launch a successful career and help grow our economy. I proudly fought for these resources because this investment will strengthen opportunities for Assiniboine and Sioux families.”

Tester secured this funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) initiative. The additional funding will go toward rehabilitations that include improvements to electrical and plumbing systems, drywall repair, new flooring, and kitchen cabinets, countertops and hardware repair.

“The FPHA will utilize the grant award to rehab 18 interior units; rehab 16 exterior units; and 28 roof replacements with metal roofing,” said Dr. Robin Bighorn, Executive Director of the Fort Peck Housing Authority. “This grant will certainly improve the living conditions of not all but some of the resident units of the Fort Peck Reservation.”

Tester, a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, has long been a champion for Indian Country in the Senate. Earlier this week, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee unanimously passed Tester’s bipartisan Tribal HUD-VASH Act, which will renew a joint tribal housing program that provides rental and housing assistance to Native American veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.