pulitzer ain't got nothin on me...

part of the reason for this blog is practice. i've never had to do much writing in the past. to be more accurate i should say i have avoided any situation which would have involved me puting my thoughts down on paper, electronically or otherwise, unless it directly involved getting done with school in a timely manner. just my luck that i would find myself in a job that requires a bit of writing. a friend of mine, who is a genious writer as far as i'm concerned, maybe the next GKC if you know what i mean, suggested that i should do a certain amount of writing on a regular basis. of course i think he might have had something a little more formal in mind, but i do what i can. the crazy thing is that i think that i might actually start to enjoy writing.

my first project at work was an article about some of the issues we are facing here at the foundation. so check out this article. the first probably of many. its lengthy so hang in there.

HUD Moratorium puts hold on construction of new homes for needy Families on the Navajo Reservation

Occupying an area in the Four Corners larger than the state of West Virginia, with a population of over 300,000, the Navajo Nation is one of the largest Indian Reservations in North America. And quite possibly the poorest. Although they suffer many of the same ills other Native American nations suffer, the Navajo or “Dine,” (“The People” in English), as they refer to themselves in the traditional language, have been able to hold on to many of their traditions, but their grip may be slipping.

Life in the high deserts of Arizona and New Mexico is harsh for all the inhabitants. The summer days are hot, with temperatures often climbing well above 90 degrees. The winters are cold; it is not rare for the temperatures to plummet below zero at night. Add to that the aridity and lack of shelter from the buffeting winds and you have some of the harshest conditions in the American southwest. But through their humility and sheer toughness, they have found a way to survive in what was once termed in the late 1800’s by a government official as the “most worthless country that ever was laid.” Many of them raise goats, sheep or cattle, and harvest wool to weave rugs and blankets, which they sell to local trading posts. Amazingly they are able to somehow grow small plots of corn, squash and other vegetables in the dry, sandy soil. They have also become famous for their hand made pottery and silver and turquoise jewelry. Many also make the long commute across muddy and dusty roads to towns on and off the reservation to work.

There is a beautiful simplicity to the Navajo way of life. Even in the seemingly complex mythology and understanding of nature they see in it its beauty, interconnectivity and often it’s fragility. Unlike our modern tendency to be the masters of nature, the Navajo religious beliefs lead them to strive to recognize their place within nature and keep the balance inherent within it

Although many live a traditional way of life it is becoming increasingly difficult. The Navajo are a people caught in between two worlds, always trying to balance the traditional ways with the demands of the modern world.

Their traditional pastoral lifestyle is becoming less feasible economically. It has never made them “rich,” nor has that been their desire, but in the past, when our society was more agriculturally driven, they found it easier support themselves sufficiently. However, as our society and economy become more and more globalized, the Navajo People are being left behind. It is becoming increasingly difficult to support their families on small flocks and jewelry sales. The global competition is too great. As a result many cannot afford even basic necessities such as adequate housing or healthcare and a sizeable percentage of the population, especially deep in the Navajo Nation, live in third world conditions

The consensus is that the Navajo Nation is 25,000 to 30,000 units short of adequate, comfortable housing. Many Navajo families live in traditional homes called hogans with dirt floors and no electricity or running water. Some of them have lived on these home sites for generations. Others are not even lucky enough to have a sturdy log or adobe hooghan and live in ramshackle houses that offer little protection from the regularly occurring sub freezing winter nights.

The situations is many cases is dire, but there is hope. The Navajo Housing Authority (NHA) does receive grants each year for housing projects and there are also non-profit organizations devoted to doing charitable work on the Navajo Nation.

One of the oldest and most well known of these non-profits is the Southwest Indian Foundation. Founded through the efforts of Father Dunstan Schmidlin, a Franciscan priest, in response to the plight of the Navajo people

For four decades the organization has grown from its humble beginnings of providing the most basic needs, to offering a wealth of services for the poorest of the poor on the reservations of the Southwest. SWIF now directly or indirectly provides for many programs including food vouchers, rent and utilities assistance, heating stoves, substance abuse counseling referrals, battered women and children assistance, and even home renovations.

“We have always strived to maintain the original intentions of our Franciscan founder. First, to recognize the great human potential of each individual; and second, to offer those in need a hand - not a handout,” says current CEO Bill McCarthy, who has been instrumental in the growth of the organization over the past 20 years. It was under his watch that the foundation got involved with providing housing assistance.

In 1997 the Air force Academy contacted the foundation about placing some homes. The Academy’s senior cadets each year complete a construction project for credit and then donate the building to the needy. The foundation identified worthy families, provided the funds for foundations and found a way to transport the modular buildings all the way from Colorado Springs to New Mexico. That partnership has resulted in over 30 homes being donated to poor Native American families that otherwise been able to obtain adequate housing.

That initial partnership started a ripple effect resulting in a comprehensive program eventually involving five different organizations, namely, SWIF, NHA, Department of Dense, VA and the Air Force Academy. The NHA saw the effectiveness of the unique partnership between SWIF and the Air Force Academy and a few years later approached the foundation about building homes for them as an Indian Housing Block Grant sub recipient. NHA even leased a warehouse to SWIF for the purposes of home construction. In addition SWIF was able to bring the Veterans Administration in on the project, which now provides jobs and vocational training for veterans recovering from addiction. The Military also came on board and now regularly sends troops from several branches to train in the construction trades under the Innovative Readiness Training program.

Previous to being a sub recipient of the HUD grants through the NHA the foundation was only able to provide limited home renovations and had relied solely on private donations and catalogue sales for funding. The partnerships with the government entities were a huge step in a new direction for the foundation as they enabled them to build turnkey homes. Along with that ability however, came new challenges. The staff in the project office quickly learned how many complexities were involved with doing business with the various government agencies.

“It seemed like roadblock after roadblock at first. There was a huge amount of paper work, and procedures to follow and compliance was very important and we weren’t used to having so many strings attached. But it is federal tax dollars so we did what was necessary and we were glad to have the funding,” said Joseph Esparza, the director of SWIF Project Office.

Over the years they SWIF has developed the required systems to “jump through the hoops” quite well and have built and delivered over 100 homes. However, just as they had mastered the process, HUD threw a major wrench into the works.

The housing funds coming from HUD come through NAHASDA (Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act), which has been in place in one form or another since 1937. NHA receives around $90 million a year to fund various housing improvement projects on the reservation. The funds cover anything from crime prevention and community safety programs to actual home construction. The NHA contracts with more than 50 “sub-recipients” who then in turn provide a given service. SWIF is one of the smaller Sub-recipients. In the case of housing construction, these sub-recipients in turn sub out the actual work to construction companies. With so many layers of bureaucracy there is inevitably trouble.

For example, in 2005 one of the larger non-profit low-income housing providers, filed for bankruptcy. According to the Navajo Times, the bankruptcy trustee alleged that the collapse was largely due to the “nonprofit being feasted on by unscrupulous sub contractors. Many of the projects, which have had millions of dollars poured into them have either been abandoned or are uninhabitable for lack of access roads and utilities.

NHA is taking the necessary steps to rectify the situation, but of course the confusion was not lost on the ever-watchful eye of HUD. In light of these types of difficulties, HUD has put a three-year moratorium on funds earmarked for new construction. Therein lies the rub for the Southwest Indian Foundation.

The moratorium is a huge blow to SWIF, one of NHA’s most reliable partners even if a small one. In turn it will be an even greater blow for those 90 or more families on the list to receive houses in FY 2008,9, and 10, especially since SWIF only provides housing for the poorest families among the Navajo Nation.

According to Teri Silversmith, the caseworker for SWIF who grew up on the reservation, a lot of the money from the grant goes towards programs that provide block housing for low-income families, which there are a need for.

“Our program is really unique because we provide a detached home right on the traditional family home site, and we only help those who wouldn’t be able to have a new home through any other means,” she says.

Silversmith tells the story of an elderly woman she spoke with recently. Less than ten miles from Gallup NM, there is an elderly woman who is caring for her grandson and granddaughter, both of whom are mentally handicapped. On the home visit Silversmith found that they were all in a one-room dirt floor hooghan with no electricity or running water. The only source of heat in the home was a makeshift stove fashioned from a 55-gallon drum, and an old fashion wood-burning cook stove. The one window in the house was cracked Plexi-glass and the roof was in shambles.

“Even with the woodstove going it was freezing in there” she said.

The granddaughter had to move to a group home to be cared for because of the conditions the family was forced to live in. According to silversmith this kind of situation is all too common.

“It’s frustrating for us,” says Silversmith, “to face the possibility of loosing funds for those three years, knowing full well that there are so many families in dire need of a new home.”

The needy families are no the only ones to be affected. The moratorium may also affect the jobs of the veterans and some employees that are involved with the project.

“Its too bad that we are taking a big hit because a couple of companies are having financial issues. Sometimes it’s too easy for a large bureaucratic system to loose sight of the fact that this is all about real people. That’s what its all about for us. We have been able to change so many lives for the better over the past 10 years with this project. If we can’t continue building than a lot of lives will be affected, and not for the better,” says Mr. McCarthy.

NHA and SWIF continue to work together to find alternative sources of funding.
“There is still a great need and we will continue to do everything humanly possible to ensure that the construction of homes for these poorest of families will continue,” said Mr. Esparza.

Carpenter Philosopher no more

I am a carpenter by trade, at least that's what I had been doing until recently, until a simple twist of fate (providence) landed me here, behind a desk.

I find myself, five years post graduation from a highly prestigious Liberal Arts college, facing the prospect of actually "using" my degree. Although the argument could be made that the simple act of deciding which shirt to wear that day, or musing about the theological/philosophical underpinnings of wearing a shirt at all is "using" a Liberal Arts degree, but that is besides the point.

The point is here I am, working for a charitable organization having to think my way through what my job actually is as opposed to "here are the blueprints, put it together," and I wonder, was this really what I wanted? No more clear cut absolute certainty about the task at hand? Wading through the muck and mire and uncertainty that come with "working with people." I must have been getting too comfortable for my own good. Now I feel like some sort of geometry purist being thrown into a political quagmire. Somehow now I long for the black and yellow certainty of a 30' FatMax tape measure, although my back does feel better these days...