From the Navajo Housing Authority Website:
Sanjay Choudhrie CARE 66 Executive Director presents an artist’s rendering of the proposed 44-unit Hooghan Hozho supportive housing development during grand opening event luncheon held at Sammy C’s in Gallup.
GALLUP,
New Mexico — With a $6 million commitment from Navajo Housing Authority (NHA),
the Community Area Resource Enterprise (CARE 66) held a groundbreaking ceremony
for a 44-unit, multi-family, mixed-income supportive housing rental development
in downtown Gallup, on East Coal Avenue on May 29.
The
44-unit, three-level, Hooghan Hozho housing project is scheduled for completion
next April and will include resident facilities, offices, and incorporate
several outdoor courtyards.
Sanjay
Choudhrie, executive director of CARE 66, expressed appreciation for the
project and its partners.
“The
groundbreaking represents a wonderful breakthrough because from this point
forward we are now going to figure how to construct the building as oppose to
how are we going to get enough partners and finances for the project,” said
Choudhrie. “We have come to this place because of the faith that the NHA Board
of Commissioners and executive team at NHA has placed on us and we are very
grateful for the opportunity and look forward to working on other projects with
NHA.”
On Jan.
26, 2011, the NHA board of commissioners passed Resolution NHA-4146-2011, by a
vote of 6-0-0, authorizing the issuance of a Letter of Commitment for $6
million to CARE 66. Funding would come from the 2011 Indian Housing Plan funded
by the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996
(NAHASDA) Indian Housing Block Grant Funding.
“NHA
understands that a lot of our Navajo people live in the border towns of the
Navajo Nation,” said NHA Board Chairman Edward T. Begay. “Our partnership with
CARE 66 is an opportunity to help our Navajo people in Gallup who often times
find them selves in desperate need of housing.”
Other
funding sources for the project came from Bonneville Capital, the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development, the City of Gallup and McKinley
County.
“About
50 percent of the people that live in Gallup are Navajo,” said Rhonda Berg,
CARE 66 Housing Development Director. “It’s a wonderful partnership that NHA is
getting started for the benefit of Native Americans.”
“Of the
44 units, 30 units are to be housed by Navajo families according to the
provisions of NAHASDA,” Berg added. “Construction is set to take place in July
on this year and will take about 10 – 12 months to complete.”
In March
2012, CARE 66 also opened a 21-unit supportive housing complex that provides
transitional and affordable housing in the former Lexington Hotel in downtown
Gallup, New Mexico. The NHA provided $1 million NAHASDA funding to CARE 66 for
the rehab and renovation of the Lexington Hotel. CARE 66 said of the 21 rooms,
10 rooms are set aside to assist Native Americans.
According
to CARE 66’s website, the median income for a household in McKinley County was
$25,005, and the median income for a family was $26,806. The per capita income
for the county was $9,872. About 31.90% of families and 36.10% of the
population were below the poverty line, including 42.30% of those under age 18
and 31.50% of those ages 65 or over. The county's per-capita income makes it
one of the poorest counties in the United States.
Care 66
is a nonprofit Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) based in
Gallup, New Mexico with the mission to create opportunities to end homelessness.
CARE 66 is the minority partner in Chuska Apartments, a green Low Income
Housing Tax Credit affordable housing development, which provides thirty units
of affordable housing to low-income families including ten homeless families.
Besides developing affordable housing, CARE 66 provides support services,
transitional housing and permanent supportive housing for homeless individuals.
CARE 66 is supported units work by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Veterans
Administration, Navajo Housing Authority, the City of Gallup, McKinley County,
New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority, private citizens and foundations
according to CARE 66 ‘s website.
For more information about this story and the Navajo Housing Authority, please visit their website: http://www.hooghan.org/.
