Month: October 2021

The South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition is pleased to announce that we have received a grant award from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Native Americans (ANA) that will provide over a million dollars in funding aimed at establishing an independent statewide nonprofit organization. The ANA grant will provide $1.2 million of the total $1.5 million project budget over a three-year period.

“We are in gratitude as we acknowledge this major support from the Administration for Native Americans. This is a very exciting advancement in the Coalition’s growth and development process,” says Elias Mendoza, Program Director of the Coalition.

Mendoza will be working closely with the Coalition’s Executive Committee to build the organizational infrastructure needed to transition the group from an informal coalition to a sustainable Native-led nonprofit organization. Since our inception eight years ago, we have been operating largely with consultant and volunteer support, and Lakota Funds, a community loan fund based on the Pine Ridge Reservation, has been serving as our fiscal agent. Earlier this year, Mendoza was hired as the Coalition’s first full-time staff member, a major step in our organizational development process.

“The South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition is a very active and dynamic group of leaders in the Native homeownership field, and it has been growing at a rapid pace for several years. This funding support will enable the Coalition to continue following that trajectory of progress,” says Tawney Brunsch, Executive Director of Lakota Funds and also Executive Committee Member of the Coalition.

The Coalition was one of 75 organizations that received a total of $19.9 million in funding from ANA’s 2021 grant cycle.